Search - Guillaume Dufay, Giuseppe Maletto, Cantica Symphonia :: Dufay: Missae

Extraordinary, and not "dull" at all...

E. M. Krauss | New York, NY USA | 01/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dufay's last and monumental final mass, Ave Regina Coelorum, is performed here with extraordinary sensitivity, eloquence, and beauty by this group. The sonority of the instruments matches the vocal lines perfectly, never overwhelming them. The performance in my opinion compares quite favorably with the Hilliard Ensemble or the Clerks' Group releases of fifteenth century repertoire. The emotion expressed here is quiet exaltation, and the supplication of the dying composer takes the form of sudden shifts between major and minor modes through application of musica ficta. The stylistic contrast between this work and the much earlier"Resvellies vous" Mass could not be greater. Dufay was a figure in music history a bit like Beethoven, who spanned the Classical and Romantic eras and whose early and late works seem to come from two different individuals; Dufay began as an heir to the tradition of the French Ars Nova and left us the style of the Renaissance as we perceive it today. This disc should not be missed."