Palestrina: Missa Assumpta est Maria

“One of the aims of the series, Christophers says, is to achieve a "real ebb and flow" in music, which can "sound all too perfect and occasionally academic". There's certainly no hint of that here; the performances are wonderfully alive to both the verbal and the musical meaning, the sound of the 18 voices of the Sixteen consistently warm and transparent.” The Guardian, 2nd June 2011 ****

“The parodic Missa Assumpta est Maria makes an excellent beginning, this performance showing Christophers’s avowed intent of making the most of the expressive lines. The other works in a beautifully shaped and sung recital include the mesmeric offertory piece Diffusa est gratia.” Sunday Times, 5th June 2011 ****

“The Sixteen and Harry Christophers launch the first volume of a long-term Palestrina project, using their instincts to convey not just the mellifluous perfection of Palestrina’s polyphonic vocal writing but also the music’s expressive import.” The Telegraph, 21st July 2011 ****

“The whole effect is quasi-theatrical without being melodramatic. The Mass also has its virtues from the vigour of the Kyrie...to the delicate duetting of the Osanna. The recording retains the spaciousness of the largish choir...the imaginative variety of these performances bodes well for future volumes in this series.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2011 ****

“The abstract beauty of the singers' approach to the Missa Assumpta Est Maria and the breathless beauty of Song of Songs shows The Sixteen's adaptability and resourcefulness. Another tick in their box - the naturalistic sound quality which avoids the contrived 'other-worldly' quality that plagues lesser early music recordings.” Classic FM Magazine, September 2011 *****

“This is Palestrina sung in the English manner but so well done that I suspect unprejudiced reviewers everywhere will give it a sympathetic hearing. The Sixteen are indeed on fine form...Christophers has a gift for taking his audience by the hand, and in that spirit it would be good to show off as many sides of Palestrina as possible.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2011

“it is the Missa 'Assumptis est Maria' that most clearly exhibits both Palestrina's and The Sixteen's art, with superbly deployed polyphonic, homophonic and antiphonal textures made to surge and recede like vast waves of sound...an auspicious start to what one hopes will be a long-running series” International Record Review, September 2011

“Recorded in various apt acoustics, the performances in this compendium combine tonal clarity with fluidity. An excellent introduction to Palestrina.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2005 *****

“A most rewarding collection, excellently recorded.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“In this recording of Missa Assumpta est Maria Peter Phillips has included the motet on which this work is based, together with another parody mass, the Sicut lilium with its corresponding motet. It's illuminating to hear how the larger-scale compositions unfold with reference to the original motets: close study reveals much about the compositional processes of the High Renaissance, but any listener will be able to appreciate the organic relationship between motet and Mass.
In addition, Phillips has deliberately paired two sharply contrasted parody Masses: Assumpta estMaria, the better known, is thought to be one of Palestrina's last masses, while Sicut lilium dates from relatively early in his career. The former, with its major tonality and divisi high voices, is marvellously bright and open, and is given an outgoing performance; the latter, inflected with chromaticism and melodic intervals that constantly fall back on themselves, is darker-hued and more plaintive, a mood well captured here in the intensity of the singing. But what's perhaps most striking is the difference in compositional technique between the two works: Sicut lilium relies largely onimitative textures for the unfolding of its structure (though there are the customary block chords on phrases such as 'et homo factus est', performed here with magical effect), while Assumpta est Maria makes far greater use of vocal scoring as a formal device, and thus looks forward to the contrast principle of the Baroque.
The Tallis Scholars make the most of the contrasted blocks of sound here, achieving an impressive vocal blend and balance. The phrasing, particularly in the Kyrie, is perhaps a little too mannered and the very beautiful Agnus Dei verges on the narcissistic and therefore becomes too static. The flow in the Missa Sicut lilium, though, is excellent throughout.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010