As so often, I’m not sure whether to be more amazed that
I let so many excellent Hyperion recordings pass me by when they
were first issued or that they are now on offer so inexpensively.
Having missed out on the review copy of this CD, I purchased
it online for significantly less than £6, including post
and packing.
I’m particularly surprised that I missed this Peñalosa
CD; it’s not as if the reviews of the original release
weren’t very favourable; Pro Cantione Antiqua had already
produced some excellent recordings of renaissance and baroque
music and recordings of Peñalosa’s music, then as
now, weren’t exactly thick on the ground.
There’s a rival recording of
Sancta Maria on a Gothic
Voices CD from 1993,
The Voice in the Garden, also recently
reissued on the Helios label (CDH55298 - see my
review and
review by
Robert Hugill) and one of
Sancta Mater on another Helios
CD,
Sacred and Secular Music from Six Centuries (Hilliard
Ensemble, CDH55148). The only recording completely devoted to
Peñalosa also comes from Hyperion, at full price: the
Masses
Ave Maria, peregrina and
Nunca fue peña
mayor, with
Sacris solemniis (Westminster Cathedral,
CDA66629, Archive service only, though some online dealers still
seem to have copies).
That a composer of Peñalosa’s stature should be
so under-represented is a great shame. I can’t argue with
Bruno Turner’s assertion in the notes that he was ‘Spain’s
greatest composer of sacred music around 1500.’ After all,
many of his contemporaries regarded him as the Iberian equivalent
of Josquin; perhaps The Tallis Scholars would consider slotting
a recording of Peñalosa into their current run of Josquin
recordings.
Don’t expect too much drama. Even the setting of the crucifixion
motets
In passion positus Jesus (tr.13) and
Deus, qui
manus tuas ... in lingo crucis posuisti (tr.20) are beautiful
but a little unimpassioned. Nor should you expect the light and
delicate setting of words from the Song of Songs,
Nigra sum,
sed formosa (tr.8) to match what Monteverdi makes of them,
or the plain chordal setting of
Ave verum corpus (tr.7)
to equal the intensity of the more famous settings by Byrd and
Mozart.
On the other hand, though there are several penitential texts
in the programme, from the very first track,
Inter vestibulum
et altare, a text associated with Ash Wednesday, neither
the music nor the performance is lugubrious. The music on this
reissue may be a little unvaried by comparison with a recording
of settings of the mass, but that’s the only criticism
that I can make - and it’s been anticipated in Bruno Turner’s
notes, where he advises against listening to all 22 tracks at
once. The more adventurous may consider ripping the tracks to
a hard drive recorder and making their own programme, combining
the motets with other renaissance polyphonic music. Turner notes
the similarity of some of Peñalosa’s music to that
of the English composers of the period, so a programme interspersing
some of these motets with music from the Eton Choirbook might
be interesting.
If the music is a little unvaried, it’s all of a very high
standard - perfect late-night listening - and the performances
are excellent. It’s almost impossible to single out a particular
motet, but it’s possible to sample them all and download
the booklet of notes on the
Hyperion
website.
Some of the members of Pro Cantione Antiqua had been around for
a while in 1991, but their singing is none the worse for that.
Others, like Michael Chance and Michael George, would go on to
make many more distinguished recordings for Hyperion and others.
The booklet is a straight reissue of the full-price original.
Bruno Turner’s notes are a little shorter than those in
some Hyperion booklets, but they are more than adequate. At least
it’s possible to get the booklet back into the case; some
Hyperion booklets are so full that they are hard to reinsert
without tearing. The translations are idiomatic, though they
make a strange blend of traditional biblical (‘what will
you have me do unto you?’) and modern language. ‘Lord
Jesus Christ, who wishes none to perish’ (
Domine Jesu
Christe, qui neminem vis perire) falls awkwardly between
the traditional (‘who wishest’) and the preferred
form in modern Roman Catholic and Anglican translations, ‘you
wish’. (But, then, the author of the prayer broke the rule
that was hammered into me, never to use the oblique cases of
nemo,
but to use
nullius, etc.: ‘never, never let me say
neminis and
nemine’.)
Several other recordings by Pro Cantione Antiqua, mostly directed
by Brunto Turner, are well worth considering, some of them even
less expensive than this Helios reissue:
• Tears and Lamentations (early and late Tudor music,
Regis RRC1259);
• Byrd
Four-part Mass, etc (Regis RRC1226);
• Lassus
Lamentations (Regis RRC1123 - see
review;
or RRC4002 - see
review);
• Lassus
Music for Easter; Requiem (Regis RRC1124 -
see
review);
• Palestrina
Lamentations (Regis RRC1038);
• Palestrina
Song of Songs (Hyperion Helios CDH55095);
• Palestrina
Missa Papæ Marcelli, etc. (Regis
RRC1025 or Brilliant Classics 99711) ;
• Schütz
Motets (Regis RRC1168 - see
review)
• Medieval Christmas (Alto ALC1004)
• Allegri
Miserere, etc (Regis RRC1065 - see
review)
The Regis CDs originate from ASV originals, the Alto from an
IMP release; both series are at super-budget price. Some or all
of the recordings on this list plus, of course, the new Helios
reissue, could form the inexpensive basis of a really fine collection
of renaissance and baroque music. I can vouch personally for
most of the earlier incarnations of those covered by Musicweb
reviews, and for all those which haven’t received Musicweb
reviews.
But above all, buy this Peñalosa reissue. If enough of
us do so, maybe Hyperion will be encouraged to bring their other
Peñalosa recording out of retirement and reissue it, too,
on the Helios label. Keep an eye, too, on the Hyperion website
for half-price offers of CDs which have not been purchased for
some time; in recent weeks some very highly thought of recordings
have been on offer; don’t let this Peñalosa reissue
find its way there.
Brian Wilson
Pro Cantione Antiqua/Bruno
Turner 
