Page 317 - FINAL_The Sixteen Coverage Book 40th Anniversary Year

8 October 2019

CLASSICAL

Palestrina Vol 8: The Sixteen (Coro) *****

Is it ever possible to tire of the mellifluous, melting strands of counterpoint
that immediately identify Palestrina’s a cappella masses and motets as the
golden epitome of Italian Renaissance church music? Not when sung with
such nuanced precision as Harry Christophers’ The Sixteen, whose eighth
recording in this ongoing survey of the composer is yet another breathtaking
example of choral singing that respects the natural, self-generating purity of
the compositional architecture, yet adds tasteful colour and vibrant nuance on
a plurality of levels.

Around the centrally positioned Missa Fratres ego enim accepi – helpfully
preceded by the eponymous motet that is its nuclear inspiration – are a
selection of shorter works representative of the Blessed Sacrament, from the
Corpus Christi motet Ego sum panis vivus and blissful Caro mea vere est cibus,
to the delights of Palestrina’s Song of Songs settings. Ken Walton

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