Die Werke kaum bekannter Komponisten wie Cabezon
(1510-1566), De Victoria (1548-1611), Gibbons (1583-1625), Stanley
(1712-1786), Nares (1715-1783), Guilmant (1837-1911), Boellmann
(1862-1897), Langlais (1907- 1991), Howells (1892-1983) verschmelzen
mit denen von Byrd, Tallis, Schütz, Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart,
Brahms, Liszt, Verdi und Faure zu einem ergreifenden Strom der Hingabe.
the project
Classical music is hot. In fact, it is probably the
biggest story of the l990s in the recording industry. Classical
crossover
hits like
Nigel Kennedy's recording of
Vivaldi's
The Four Seasons,
Henryk Gorecki's
Symphony
no. 3, the Gregorian Chant album by the monks of Silo, and
Michael Nyman's score for the
Jane Campion
film
The Pianoto name just a fewhave broken
out of classical music's traditional bounds and hit the pop charts.
Suddenly, a classical recording that sells 10,000 units is no longer
pushing the envelope; today's top classical releases are reaching
sales heights formerly reserved for pop icons like
Madonna
and the
Rolling Stones.
This stunning turnaround in classical music's marketing
power did not come out of nowhere, though. Celestial Harmonies helped
set the stage for it with its Adagio (Complete Edition) (19908)
series. Since 1981, long before the current interest in classical
music began, Celestial Harmonies' compilations have been used worldwide
for relaxation, meditation and even music therapy. And in a stunning
reversal of music industry rules, absolutely no advertising or promotion
was needed to achieve substantial sales figures. And while the rest
of the classical world scurries around looking for the next big hit,
Celestial Harmonies has released an updated digital version of an
already proven winner: The Adagio series, a total
of seven doubleCDs. With sales of over 300,000 units in the
past decade, the reason for the series' success is no mystery. As
modern life has become increasingly complex and stressful, listeners
have turned to music as a source of reliefespecially the timeless,
contemplative sounds of classical music. It seems that as the pace
of our lives gets progressively faster, the music that many listeners
are seeking is increasingly slow. The Adagio series,
presents over seventeen hours of the world's finest slow music, making
it the largest such collection anywhere.
the music
One thing is clear from the astounding success of
The Three Tenors, the Spanish monks, the Bulgarian Women's Choir,
and other
crossover phenomena: despite the conventional wisdom
in the classical radio and recording industries that vocal music is
not as popular as instrumental works, it is the vocal albums that
listeners repond to more anything else.
Magnum Mysterium I (
14060)
and
Magnum Mysterium II present a survey of five centuries
of the glorious sound of massed human voices.
Magnum Mysterium I focuses specifically on
the sacred choral music of the fifteenth to seventeeth centuries.
The music of Pierre de la Rue and Giovanni
Palestrina is as beautiful and resonant today as it was nearly
500 years ago. Respected figures like Thomas Tallis,
Carlo Gesualdo, and William Byrd
are joined by currently overlooked Iberian masters Manuel
Cardoso and Duarte Lobo. The CDs' liner
notes add to the musical interest: the exalting sounds of Byrd's
Infelix Ego take on new layers of significance when you
read that he was a known Catholic in the fiercely Protestant court
of Elizabeth I, but that a blind eye was turned towards him and his
family because his music was considered so sublime.
Magnum Mysterium II also draws on the rich liturgical
music heritage of both Catholic and Protestant rites. Four hundred
years of sacred contemplative music are represented here, from the
spectacular choral polyphony of sixteenth century Englishman Thomas
Tallis to the heartfelt Psalm settings of his twentieth century
countryman, Herbert Howells. Magnum Mysterium
II also includes some brilliant yet reflective organ interludes
by Bach, Mozart, Langlais,
and others.
The sacred music included here reflects the long historic
ties between classical music and Western Christianity. Most Italian
and Spanish composers set the Latin texts of the Catholic liturgy;
this included composers like Vivaldi and Verdi,
who are more generally thought of as instrumental or operatic composers,
respectively. But Vivaldi's Gloria and
Verdi's Stabat Mater, both included
here, are glowing choral works that show how strongly these composers
felt about their ancient texts. Bach was a figure
of great importance to the Lutheran services in his native Germany.
In addition to his sacred cantatas, Bach's position
in the church allowed him to display his musical genius in his organ
contemplations, which were often improvised and only later written
down. Two of these fantasies and fugues are included in MAGNUM
MYSTERIUM II (14062-2). Another great master, Johannes
Brahms, drew on Lutheran texts for his A German Requiem,
which is also excerpted here.
There are some musical surprises as well: a setting
of the seventh century text Vexilla Regis by legendary
pianist/composer Franz Liszt, for example; or an
example of early liturgical music for the young Anglican Church by
Thomas Tallis. And there are also some familiar masterworks:
the Sanctus from Bach's glorious Mass
in B Minor, for example; and the timeless beauty of In
Paradisum from the Fauré Requiem.
the musicians
These compilations were put together by Celestial
Harmonies' President,
Eckart Rahn, and
Sister
Marie Therese Levey, RSJ, of Australia.
Magnum Mysterium
I and
Magnum Mysterium II feature the rich, pure sounds
of the
Oxford Camerata of England, directed by
Jeremy
Summerly. Two other highlyregarded choirs, the
Sine
Nomine Singers and the
Schola Cantorum of
Oxford also perform, and such respected ensembles as the
Capella
Istropolitana, the
English Northern Chamber Orchestra,
and the
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra provide instrumental
support. Renowned organists
Wolfgang Rübsam,
Joseph
Payne, and
Janus Sebestyen each contribute
instrumental interludes in the second volume.
tracklist
|
Disk 1: |
|
1 |
Fantasia and Fuge in G Minor
BWV 542 by Johann Sebastian Bach |
14'28" |
2 |
Gloria from Mass O
Magnum Mysterium by Tomás Luis de Victoria |
3'07" |
3 |
Tiento 1 by Antonio de Cabezón
|
4'20" |
4 |
Sanctus from Mass for
Five Voices by William Byrd |
4'14" |
5 |
Remember not, O Lord God by
Thomas Tallis |
2'39" |
6 |
Sancte Deus, Sancte fortis by
Thomas Tallis |
5'22" |
7 |
Pavan by Orlando Gibbons |
2'14" |
8 |
Ego dormio from Cantiones
Sacrae Op. 4 by Heinrich Schütz |
3'45" |
9 |
Prelude and Fugue in C Minor
BWV 546 by Johann Sebastian Bach |
14'42" |
10 |
Voluntary and Fuge in A Minor
by James Nares |
5'02" |
11 |
Et in terra from Gloria
by Antonio Vivaldi |
5'16" |
12 |
Fantasia in C Minor KV 396 by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
7'27" |
13 |
Sanctus from Mass in
B Minor BWV 232 by Johann Sebastian Bach |
5'19" |
|
Total Time: |
78'43" |
|
Disk 2: |
|
1 |
Sonata No. 2 from The
Seven Last Words of Our Saviour On the Cross H. III: 50-56
by Joseph Haydn |
6'49" |
2 |
Voluntary in A Minor by John
Stanley |
4'35" |
3 |
Vexilla regis from Via
crucis, les 14 stations de la Croix by Franz Liszt |
4'14" |
4 |
Suite Gothique Op. 25 by Léon
Boëllmann |
12'33" |
5 |
Wie lieblich from A German
Requiem by Johannes Brahms |
4'43" |
6 |
Trois Méditations by
Jean Langlais |
13'02" |
7 |
Stabat Mater from Four
Sacred Pieces by Giuseppe Verdi |
13'33" |
8 |
Cantilene Pastorale Op. 19 by
Félix Alexandre Gulimant |
5'05" |
9 |
In Paradisum from Requiem
by Gabriel Fauré |
3'16" |
10 |
Psalm 23 Op. 32 No. 3 by Herbert
Howells |
8'03" |
|
Total Time: |
76'31" |
the series
Adagio I: A Special 2 ½
Hour Collection of Orchestral Classics |
(14050) |
Adagio II: A Special 2 ½ Hour Collection
of Orchestral Classics |
(14052) |
Andante: A Special 2 ½ Hour Collection
of Chamber Music Classics |
(14054) |
Largo I: A Special 2 ½
Hour Collection of Piano Classics |
(14056) |
Largo II: A Special 2 ½ Hour Collection
of Piano Classics |
(14058) |
Magnum Mysterium I: A Special 2 ½ Hour
Collection of Sacred Music Classics |
(14060) |
Magnum Mysterium II: A Special 2 ½
Hour Collection of Sacred Music Classics |
(14062) |