Search - Pablo Cora, Paul Flight, N. Lincoln Hanks :: Victory of Santiago

The Victory of Concord

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 06/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Several allusions in the title of this review will be wasted unless I explain them. The Concord Ensemble was the grand prize victor in the first Early Music America recording competition. "Concord" - in the sense of consonant tuning and tight ensemble - is not only the name of this consort of six male voices but also the key to their musical victory.



I heard the Concord Ensemble live at the Berkeley Early Music Festival last month (May 2008), singing a program of 16th C Spanish polyphony similar to what's recorded here, featuring the music of Juan Vasquez, my favoritest favorite neglected Renaissance master. I thought they were fabulous, and I'm not so easy to please, but my wife was highly critical of their wooden stage presence and their purist's selection of all refined motet-like pieces from the diverse Spanish repertoire. "You might as well listen to a CD," she said more than once, so what else could I do but buy this recording from 1999? Oddly enough, she was right; the CD is just as polished vocally and quite a lot livelier than the staged concert.



The Berkeley Festival, by the way, alternates every other year with the Boston Early Music Festival. Those of us who have lived in both cities know that a tunnel runs sub-tectonically from the basement of the Harvard Medical Center directly to the ground floor of Zellerbach Auditoriun on the UCB campus. The Berkeley Festival was replete with excellent performances this year; fans of early music would be wise to make hotel reservations at the Claremont in Berkeley for May 2010.



Juan Vasquez was a priest and the director of the instrumental ensemble of the glorious Spanish Gothic cathedral of Burgos. He was a "bajon" player; the bajon was the progenitor of all bassoon-like instruments, and perhaps appeared first in Spain. In the 1560s, he published several books of polyphonic villancicos for four or five voices, with seemingly secular texts. That was an era, however, of mystical love poetry with religious implications, such as the poems of St. John of the Cross. Instrumentalists all over Spain recognized very quickly that Vasquez's vocal polyphony was also ideal for instrumental performance. Vasquez is the sort of composer who makes refined simplicity sound profound. Whether you hear it as a poignant love song or a metaphor for divine exaltation, the villancico "Ojos Morenos" - #10 on this CD - is so meltingly beautiful that I have to hit the repeat button for it three times whenever I load this recording.



The first track on the CD is an "ensalada" by Mateo Flecha. The compositions called ensaladas in 16th C Spain were intended as crowd-pleasers, full of pep and wit, and this Flecha ensalada is one of the most colorful. Titled "La Guerra" - the War - it imitates marching sounds, battle cries, cannon fire, paeans of victory, all a capella.

The repeated cry 'Santiago, Santiago' refers to St. James, the ghostly patron of Spanish chivalry in battles against the Moors, but in fact the text of the ensalada is another religious allegory. The battle being fought and won is the victory of Christ over Lucifer.



Also represented on this CD are Cristobal de Morales and Tomas de Victoria (another victory!), and every track might merit special commendations for musical invention and vocal excellence. The largest composition on the disk is Victoria's seven-voice Missa Dum Complerentur, for which the Concords add a second countertenor. It's a compact exultation, a perfect example of the Apollonian sacred polyphony of the 16th Century, worthy to be sung to God at His high altar.



In a Renaissance vocal consort, the countertenors are likely to be the key element. Paul Flight, the countertenor on this CD, has a clear, natural-sounding soprano that blends without dominating. Several octaves below, bass Daniel Cole likewise blends even his lowest notes into the tight ensemble tuning that makes the Concord Ensemble victorious."

First-rate recording from award-winning Concord Ensemble

pmand | 01/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD will amaze you from the very first lines of the opening piece, and the high standard of quality remains consistent througout. The vibrancy of the singing and production make it as close as you can possibly get to a live performance, with the advantage that you can play it again. (And this recording stands up to MANY repeat playings!) However, do hear The Concord Ensemble live if possible, because they are simply the best around at what they do.The Victory of Santiago showcases a fine variety of sacred and secular works from the Spanish Renaissance. The ensemble's masterly interpretations of these works are always intelligent and musical, with exquisite attention paid to the nuances of text and polyphonic interaction of vocal lines. This is no pedantic, white-toned presentation of antiquated music, however. The singing sparkles with life and freshness, and the voices retain their individual beauty while simultaneously blending into a cohesive ensemble sound. The Concord Ensemble's rhythmic precision, intonation, and fluid legato are unsurpassed by any group I have heard.The impeccable performances, excellent programming, and sumptuous recording quality make The Victory of Santiago a must for any lover of early music and/or brilliant ensemble singing."