Page 320 - FINAL_The Sixteen Coverage Book 40th Anniversary Year

Before and after the mass, motets sound, which can be assigned to Holy Week with the last sacrament,
strive towards the final passions and flow into the sphere of Easter with 'Victimae paschali laudes'. In
addition, three movements from Palestrina's Song of Songs oeuvre are included, which, along with
the madrigals, is one of the composer's best-known works, and exquisite music. Harry Christophers
combines the wonderful material in a compelling conception into a beautiful experience that does not
lack a certain inner drama.

The Sixteen as a musical powerhouse

Of course, everything makes a decisive contribution to the sound experience of the choir: Contrary to
its name, it is not sixteen, but eighteen fabulous singers who spread throughout the stream. The
ensemble has expertise in many fields: At the beginning, 40 years ago, there was the splendor of the
English vocal renaissance, which was already impressive to listen to records that are still available
today. Then the ensemble and the founders continued to expand their program, on the continent, in
baroque spheres, and to this day they have matured to an eminent size in the modern repertoire - in
cooperation with foundations and sponsors, the ensemble commissioned a lot of music or premiered
it. And, of course, the vocalists are not only Palestrina experts with the eighth episode of the series:
they demonstrate their alert sense for the clarity of the architecture, for the beauty of the lines, for
the delicacy of some of the webs, for the balance in which this is perfected designed fabric must always
be.

The clear, sometimes sharply drawn registers do not allow any softness to arise, are never yielding in
their effect, rather bright, radiant, rich in overtones. As a result, the intonation is fabulous, with no
flaws throughout. The lines are unfolded over a large area, borne by many powerful impulses, for this
music astonishingly clearly unfolded from the text, with the courage to take dynamic risks, without
trumpeting. These powerful gestures are typical of The Sixteen, with the clear message: It is never just
about lackluster, perhaps somewhat tiring beauty; This ideally typical Renaissance music should also
be brought to life and sparkle. So the tour through the spiritual work of Palestrina is a real pleasure:
Harry Christophers and The Sixteen with a really successful eighth episode of their series.

Matthias Lange, January 17th, 2020

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