gregoriano · adorate deum
medieval.org
naxosdirect · amazon
Naxos 8.550711
1992
INTROITUS
01 - Adorate Deum [4:06]
02 - Da pacem [4:37]
03 - Dominus illuminatio mea [5:49]
04 - Laetetur cor [4:08]
GRADUALIA
05 - Dirigatur [3:13]
06 - Domine Dominus noster [3:26]
07 - Iacta cogitatum tuum [3:57]
08 - Laetatus sum [3:18]
VERSUS ALLELUIATICI
09 - Adorabo [2:21]
10 - De profundis [3:20]
11 - Deus iudex iustus [2:54]
12 - Laudate deum [1:53]
OFFERTORIA
13 - De profundis [3:32]
14 - Domine convertere [2:22]
15 - Iubilate deo universa terra [7:50]
16 - Iustitiae Domini [4:18]
COMMUNIONES
17 - Circuibo [2:09]
18 - Dici Dominus 'Implete hydrias' [3:56]
19 - Dominus firmamentum meum [2:28]
20 - Qui manducat [2:19]
21 - Gustate et videte [3:29]
NOVA SCHOLA GREGORIANA
Alberto Turco
solista: Alessio Randon
Nicola Bellinazzo, Domizio Berra, Giacomo Carniti, Olivo Damini,
Giuseppe Fusari, Franco Guglielmi, Gianlorenzo Maccalli,
Renato Magoga, Giorgio Mazzucato, Enrico Speroni,
Roberto Spremulli, Giulio Urbani, Mariano Zarpellon
You
can never step in to the same river twice. While Gregorian chant is a
deposit of Latin liturgical music in many historical strata, it gave
the impression to uninitiated listeners of at least my generation of
being a unified, undifferentiated corpus. And back in the years when
the ultimate source seemed to be that massive monolith, the Liber
usualis, many of us were uninitiated listeners, with only a vague
understanding of how those serene, hypnotic melodies in the Liber
actually corresponded to the manuscripts from which they were drawn. Of
course, we knew from history books that there were other ways of
interpreting the archaic-looking neumes than the official Solemnes
method set forth in the Liber's preface, but at that time the chant was
a part of our daily lives, and its very pervasiveness in the official
form precluded much experimentation. But not investigation. While
parish choirs were singing, theorists debated the merits of various
hypotheses purporting to represent the original rhythmic structure of
the multiform neumes (the official doctrine held that they were all
more or less equal, with some more equal than others). Now that the
church has practically abandoned its treasure-house of liturgical
monody (and polyphony), there is room for more experimentation in
performance. It hasn't taken musicologists long to fill that room with
singing.
The present disc, featuring performances following the
teachings of Dom Cardine, makes a strong case for his artistic, if not
academic, premises. Including selections of Introitus, Gradualia,
Versus alleluiatici, Offertoria, and Communiones--all texts from the
proper, or changeable, parts of the Mass--Alberto Turco, a lecturer in
Gregorian chant in the Pontifical Ambrosian Institute of Sacred Music
in Milan, has assembled a showcase for this alternative performance
style. Those of us who remember Gregorian chant as ethereal wisps of
melody floating serenely above the liturgical action at the altar, or
as a dry musicological exercise (in a doctoral seminar, I traced
skeletal introit melodies through their varied reincarnations in
manuscripts of diverse geographical origin) these performances breathe
new life into the ancient, mummified body that we all revered out of
duty but only occasionally loved. The recent spate of such alternative
performances has now revealed to everyone how multiramified the
Gregorian tree really was, and how much of the changing historical
river was concealed beneath the smooth flow in the liturgical books.
Turco
strongly differentiates the melismatic (heavily ornamental) sections
from the syllabic (one note per syllable) ones. The former are
characterized by coherent rhythmic groupings and resonant quasi-drones.
The latter are sung in the old, familiar style. But it is the
melismatic chant that dominates this collection--and provides such a
fresh perspective on this music. Of course, the chant still seems
incomplete when severed from the liturgical action, but no style of
performance can remedy that.
Turco's "Nova Schola Gregoriana,"
recorded in the reverberant acoustic ambience of the Church of the
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in Mantua, give warm, heartfelt
performances of the repertoire they have chosen. These adjectives could
hardly ever have been used in praise of a Solemnes performance, which,
despite its French provenance, always somehow conjured the aridity of a
cassocked Vatican bureaucrat. The all-male choir recreates the monastic
matrix of these ageless chants, which seem youthful once again in their
new idiom.
This is another stunning release by Naxos, which should
appeal to absolutely everyone. It is a journey of the soul to the
origins, and we all need such a journey. Urgently recommended.
Robert Maxham, 1996, (www.schuyesmans.be)
(errores y erratas conservados)