MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
Crotchet


Corpus Christi en Toledo, 1751
Jaime CASELLAS (1690-1764)
Missa Pange lingua/Sacris solemnis [26:32]
Juan Bautista CABANILLES (1644-1712)
Tiento lleno, punto alto sobre el Pangue lingua, tono 5° [04:39]
Jaime CASELLAS
¡Alarma, alarma, sentidos!, villancico al Santisimo Sacramento [18:52]
Sphera AntiQua, Memoria de los Sentidos/Carlos Martínez Gil
rec. 23-27 May 2008, Capilla de Reyes de la S.I. Catedral Primado, Toledo, Spain. DDD
COLUMNA MÚSICA 1CM0208
[50:00]
 

 

Experience Classicsonline


This disc pays attention to one of the main religious feasts in Spain, Corpus Christi, which commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist by Jesus Christ. Elements of the celebrations were considered vulgar or profane and over the centuries attempts were made to eliminate them. But in Toledo in the 18th century the feast still contained the elements which lent it its specific profile. Part of the celebrations - which lasted several days - was a procession, and it was in particular here that sacred and popular elements were intermingled. The whole proceedings are described in detail in the booklet, which allows the listener to put the music in its context.
 

Here music is performed which was written for the feast of Corpus Christi on Thursday, 29 May 1751. Jaime Casellas is not a household name, although he was one of the most prolific composers of his time. This is an indication of how little we still know about Spanish music of the 18th century. In 1715 he was elected maestro de capilla of San María del Mar in Barcelona and in 1733 he was appointed to the same position in Toledo Cathedral. Hardly anything of the music he composed while working in Barcelona has survived, but a large corpus of music written in Toledo has been preserved. It comprises Latin liturgical music as well as villancicos, tonos and tonadillas to Spanish texts. In his compositions he usually supports the vocal forces with orchestra, as in the music which is performed on this disc. 

The main work is the Missa Pange lingua/Sacris solemnis. It is based on two of the hymns for Corpus Christi, which are also sung in plainchant during the Mass. Pange lingua is sung before the Kyrie, Sacris solemnis after the Gloria. It is mainly the musical material of the hymn Pange lingua which is used in the Mass. Material from this hymn is also used by Cabanilles whose Tiento is played after the Credo of the Mass. The scoring of the Mass, with eight voices in two choirs and an orchestra of two violins, two oboes, two trumpets, bassoon and b.c. reflects the importance of this feast and the exuberance of the celebrations in Toledo. Casellas could count on a number of excellent musicians. Around the time this Mass was composed new singers were brought in, among them young castrati from Spain and Italy. The orchestra was reinforced by experienced musicians. Both this Mass and the villancico which closes this recording must have taken profit from these circumstances. 

Carlos Martínez Gil writes about the programme: "It would be fruitless to search for traces of intimacy in this recording. Everything here is advertisement for an institution [the Cathedral] that insisted on being the determining factor of the destiny of a city in undeniable decadence and which utilized, in this case, the art of music to manifest its grandeur". This and the information about the character of the celebrations on Corpus Christi in Toledo are to be kept in mind while listening to this music. It is mostly extraverted and often a bit loud. Even in the traditionally most introverted part of the Mass, the passage about Jesus' incarnation, the trumpets can be heard. But I am sure you will be able to appreciate this disc if you like Spanish music. 

Jaime Casellas’s music is certainly worth listening to, not only the Mass but also the villancico, a uniquely Spanish genre. Although the content is sacred the style has much in common with the secular music of the time, and shows how sacred and popular elements are mixed. It is given a very energetic performance here with an especially good contribution of the tenor, whose name is not given. I assume it is the tenor from the first choir, Miguel Bernal. 

To what extent the performance practice of the Mass reflects what is known about how the music was performed in Toledo in 1751 I do not know. There are several moments when bells are ringing and that is certainly historically justified. Whether the soft drumbeat which accompanies the singing of the hymn 'Sacris solemnis' also reflects historical practice I can't tell. I am also not sure whether the pomp and circumstance of the Corpus Christi celebrations are fully explored in a performance using only one voice per part as on this disc. Although the Mass is nice to listen to, the singing isn't always top-notch. In particular the sopranos use too much vibrato, which is especially notable in the passages with more modest scoring. 

The booklet contains ample information about the Corpus Christi celebrations as well as about the music by Casellas. Unfortunately only the original Spanish text of the villancico is given. If a disc is released for the international market an English translation of uncommon lyrics is indispensable. 

All in all, I commend this disc mostly to those who have a special interest in Spanish music and Spanish culture. Let us hope it will also encourage other performers to explore the Spanish music of the 18th century which is not given as much attention as earlier repertoire from Spain.

Johan van Veen



 

 
 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.