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Sanctus
Sacred choral music from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance Complex musical composition in the Western World could be said to have its beginnings with Guido of Arezzo, the 11th-century theorist and music teacher, and his invention of the stave. Arezzo's notation meant that composers could plot notes on to a 'graph' and distinguish the tones and semi-tones, although a precise system of rhythmic expression would not come until the Ars Nova (the 'New Art') movement of the early 14th century, when a musical notation was devised that is very akin to our own modern system of notation: a system of 'measured' music. From this point musical composition rapidly evolved from the rustic 'medieval' sound-world (an art laden with rhythmic organization and experimentation) of the 14th and 15th centuries, to more 'humanistic' approaches of the later 15th century and 16th century, when musical expression of the words and human passions was paramount. Thus we enter the golden age of polyphonic composition. This collection of plainchant and polyphony is of necessity but a minimal sampling of the great quantity of music that has come down to us, but the assembled compositions are a testament to the emotional charge, inventiveness and ingenuity so clearly apparent in this rich period of composition - an art that transcended both generations and national boundaries, and one that was to shape the future of Western art music as we know it today. 2 CD set in an elegant, book-like package. Sacred choral music from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance sung by Magdala directed by David Skinner. Music from both manuscript and printed sources of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; a mix of English and Italian polyphony with music from all corners of the Holy Roman Empire, including Robert Fayrfax's splendid Mass Tecum principium. MAGDALA was formed in 2002 as the first professional mixed-voice choir based at Magdalen College, Oxford. The choir is currently one of the finest ensembles of its type in Oxford and Cambridge, and specializes in music of the 15th and 16th centuries. Choral Vespers is performed by Magdala on Tuesdays in Magdalen College Chapel during term time. Magdala was ensemble in residence at the Victoria & Albert Museum 'Gothic' exhibition, and frequently gives concerts at home and abroad.