Gombert - Tribulatio et angustias - Hyperion: CDA67614 - CD or download

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This is the first disc to focus on the core of Gombert, his motets. What we know of his troubled life and extant music suggests that he was not a 'Laetentur coeli' sort of composer, and so the... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 28th Aug 2007
Catalogue No: CDA67614
Label: Hyperion
Length: 66 minutes

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Gombert: Tribulatio et angustia

Work length8:58

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

Gombert: Hortus conclusus es

Work length4:34

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

Gombert: Aspice Domine

Work length10:39

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

Gombert: Virgo sancta Katherina

Work length3:02

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

anon.: Inviolata

Work length1:44

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

Gombert: Inviolata, integra, et casta es, Maria

Work length7:43

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

Gombert: Ne reminiscaris, Domine

Work length5:57

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

Gombert: Pater noster

Work length5:06

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

Gombert: Ave Maria

Work length4:32

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

Gombert: Ergone vitae

Work length7:10

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

Gombert: Ave sanctissima Maria

Work length6:37

$1.10

$1.50

The Brabant Ensemble
Stephen Rice

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This is The Brabant Ensembles third disc for Hyperion. Under their director, eminent musicologist Dr Stephen Rice, they continue to excavate jewels of the sixteenth-century choral repertoire which have until now remained under-performed and under-represented in music history. Their natural and instinctive performing style, which foregrounds the essential vocal qualities of this music, unlike the instrumental tone of other early music choirs, brings these beautiful and complex works abundantly to life. Gomberts motets are the heart of his writing and this selection of them allows the range of his musical accomplishments to fully emerge. Often seen as written in penance for heinous crimes committed by the composer, many of them are settings of various texts of penitence, sorrow and yearning for deliverance from punishment. Images such as the hellish lake in Tribulatio et angustia are dramatically explored. Also on this disc are motets for the adulation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which surprisingly demonstrate an especially intensified and dissonant musical style, showing the almost erotic level of devotion suggested in some of the greatest art of this period.

Reviews

2010

This is the first disc to focus on the core of Gombert, his motets. What we know of his troubled life and extant music suggests that he was not a 'Laetentur coeli' sort of composer, and so the opening Tribulatio et angustia is well chosen, being both one of the finest of them and setting the mood for the rest. Barely a minute has passed before the first of many dark spots of extreme and focused dissonance, yet such harmonic knots never tie up the line. Indeed it's one of very few discs of this repertoire you can happily play in its entirety.
This is in part a tribute to Gombert, who went to the well so often and never returned emptyhanded; but also to the Brabant Ensemble and Stephen Rice, who researched Gombert's motets for a doctorate. Rice believes in a largely steady tactus, which certainly suits the reflective nature of these works, but by encouraging an unusually individual and carefully balanced vocal response, he avoids the pitfalls of relentless consistency (The Tallis Scholars) and arrided elision (one-per-part groups like Henry's Eight and the Hilliard Ensemble). There is a welcome and (in this music) novel belief in the power of voices as voices rather than instrumental simulacra: try the sopranos halfway through Hortusconclusus est for erotic Mariolatry at its most disconcertingly sensual. Arise, make haste, as they sing, and hear this music.

It’s one of very few discs of this repertoire I’ve been happy to play in its entirety, and then several times since. This is in part a tribute to Gombert … but also to The Brabant Ensemble and Stephen Rice … by encouraging an
unusually individual and carefully balanced vocal response, he avoids the pitfalls of relentless consistency and arrided elision … there is a welcome and (in this music) novel belief in the power of voices as voices … try the sopranos halfway through Hortus conclusus es for erotic Mariolatry at its
most disconcertingly sensual. Arise, make haste, as they sing, and hear this music

These 10 motets are notable for their richly glowing sonorities, their disciplined counterpoints, their intensity of expression and, most of all, their careful tailoring of music to text. There’s the darkly erotic
intensity of Hortus conclusus es, the angst-ridden, pentitential Tribulatio et angustia … the singing is meticulously balanced and blended, Stephen Rice shaping and pacing each work with exquisite judgement

The Brabant Ensemble’s exploration of the “forgotten generation” of composers between Josquin and Palestrina is reviving an abundance of unwarrantedly neglected sacred polyphony. Judging by this splendid selection
of motets, Gombert’s neglect is particularly flagrant. In penitential pieces, such as Aspice Domine and Tribulatio et angustia, his lavish use of dissonance within a smooth-flowing yet intricately imitative style creates an atmosphere of almost unbearably intense and bitter anguish, whether contemplating
a city laid waste or beseeching rescue from a foetid quagmire … these shapely and well-paced performances do full justice to Gombert’s outstanding talent

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