Palestrina: Assumpta est Maria a 6

2011 sees the first recording by The Sixteen devoted entirely to Palestrina.

The disc marks the start of a new project which will result in a series of new recordings exploring a selection of the composer’s vast output, and a Choral Pilgrimage tour.

Palestrina was born in 1525 not far from Rome, in the town whose name he bore and from which we take the cover images for this new series of discs. Possibly the greatest composer of liturgical music of all time, Palestrina was a towering figure in Renaissance polyphony. Choral singers world-wide will know his Missa Papae Marcelli (recorded by The Sixteen on COR16014) as, without doubt, it is the most renowned of Palestrina’s works and possibly the most famous mass of all time.

On this new disc The Sixteen has recorded some of the sumptuous music he wrote for the Assumption including his Missa Assumpta est Maria and Salve Regina. Without doubt, Palestrina was the great master of all Papal composers and his spiritual craft and harmonic vitality fulfilled the needs of the Vatican. His motets for the Assumption also entitled Assumpta est Maria, are glorious examples of such work and can be heard in all their splendour on this recording.

By his death in 1594, Palestrina had published a huge amount of music including over 100 Masses and over 350 motets.

This disc offers a fascinating collection of works written for the Papal Chapel. Researched and sung by one of the world's leading choirs, The Sixteen and Harry Christophers, this recording includes many world premiere recordings of these rarely heard sacred works. Felice Anerio displays a fluid mastery of the Roman style of composition, and some of his surviving settings are shown to advantage here, in particular his glorious twelve-part setting of Stabat Mater, more ambitious and possibly more beautiful than those by Palestrina and Lassus. Gregorio Allegri is famous for his Miserere (available on CORO as COR16014); this recording contains representative examples of his polyphonic style. Together with settings by the towering figure of Palestrina, all receive warm and vital performances.

Since they were founded in 1979 Harry Christophers and The Sixteen have recorded over 100 discs of choral music spanning 600 years. On this new collection, CORO presents a selection of their most celebrated recordings of music by composers from across Europe.

This disc features music from over a dozen composers representing ten countries from Palestrina’s Assumpta Est Maria and Monteverdi’s Beatus Vir to excerpts from Poulenc’s Sept Répons des Ténèbrae and Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir. This disc provides a superb collection of works from some of Europe’s most celebrated composers and, alongside the first disc in this set, Great British Choral Works, is the perfect introduction to The Sixteen’s wonderful music.

The Tallis Scholars’ finest recordings presented in three volumes, one for each decade, and each offering over five hours of the award-winning performances that helped establish the sacred vocal music of the Renaissance as one of the great repertoires of western classical music.

Featuring five of The Sixteen’s most celebrated recordings, The Italian Collection is a sumptuous anthology of music. From Allegri’s hauntingly beautiful Miserere to the virtuosity, vibrant colour and dynamic energy of Handel’s Dixit Dominus, this collection spans three centuries of glorious Italian choral music.

Little-know treasures such as Anerio’s glorious 12-part setting of the Stabat Mater sit side by side with Palestrina’s Assumpta Est Maria and Lotti’s Crucifixus. 14 different composers are represented here and they worked for some of the most splendid musical establishments Italy had to offer including St Mark’s in Venice and the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

A beautifully packaged set, which compliments perfectly The Sixteen's newest series of Palestrina CDs on CORO.