vocesthules.is
gogoyoko.com
2006
Voces Thules VT001
2000-2005
Hallgrim's Church, Reykjavik
CD 1
AD I. VESPERAS 1 - Deus in
adiutorium
[1:28]
2 - Adest festum [2:33]
3 - Aquilonis [1:57]
4 - Fans ex basan [2:22]
5 - Docent digna [2:35]
6 - Sursum in altissima [2:12]
7 - Dum Johannis [4:18]
8 - Festa pastoris [3:15]
9 - O Pastor Hyslandie [5:33]
10 - Benedicamus et Psallamus [1:07]
COMPLETORIUM 11 - Svo vítt
um heim [0:34]
AD MATUTINUM 12 - Domine
labia mea [0:37]
13 - Tonanti [5:22]
14 - Celum, mundus [3:14]
IN I. NOCTURNO 15 - Beatus
esse [2:52]
16 - Predicat [2:25]
17 - Eruditi gracia [2:33]
18 - Gloriosa [2:02]
19 - Illibatum [2:31]
20 - Verbum Dei [3:05]
IN II. NOCTURNO 21 - Qui
se Deo [3:06]
22 - Gloriatur [2:30]
23 - Nomen Dei [2:31]
24 - Obiurgator [2:22]
25 - Hunc regula [2:43]
26 - Argumentosa [3:23]
CD 2
IN III. NOCTURNO 1 - Non
concepit [3:05]
2 - Magna ejus [2:32]
3 - Montem sanctus [2:27]
4 - Larga manus [1:52]
5 - Hic helias [2:26]
6 - Iubar vite [5:44]
AD LAUDES 7 - Deus in
adiutorium [1:27]
8 - Hunc canoro [2:16]
9 - Joseph reliquens [2:39]
10 - Ad instar [2:44]
11 - Manum mittens [2:55]
12 - Angelorum [2:37]
13 - Solis reduxit [3:28]
14 - Regularis vite [5:46]
15 - Benedicamus Domino [0:48]
AD PRIMAM 16 - Deus in
adiutorium [1:29]
17 - Mente sancta [3:36]
AD TERTIAM 18 - Crucifixi
[2:38]
AD SEXTAM 19 - Christus robur
[2:28]
AD NONAM 20 - Diva condens
[2:19]
21 - Svo vítt um heim [0:35]
CD 3
AD II. VESPERAS 1 - Deus
in adiutorium [1:28]
2 - Claruit [2:34]
3 - Vindicatur [2:35]
4 - Induis iusticie [2:18]
5 - Gravium [2:29]
6 - Celestie [2:04]
7 - Hostes exterre [3:05]
8 - A solis ortus cardine [2:45]
9 - O consolator [5:23]
10 - Benedicamus et psallamus [1:04]
IN MISSA 11 - O virtutum
[1:31]
12 - Kyrie [1:40]
13 - Gloria [3:24]
14 - Odore fragrancie [1:24]
15 - Alleluia et versus [2:25]
16 - Sequencia [2:44]
17 - Credo [5:59]
18 - Benedictus [0:43]
19 - Sanctus [2:32]
20 - Agnus Dei [1:48]
21 - Ordinare nos [0:37]
22 - Magnificat miraculo [0:56]
23 - Prosa [2:33]
Voces Thules
Guđlaugur Viktorsson
Eggert Pálsson
Einar Jóhannesson
Eiríkur Hreinn Helgason
Sigurđur Halldórsson
Sverrir Guđjónsson
"Here is something a little different, and rather
special: a beautifully presented set of three CDs and a DVD to
celebrate the Officium S. Thorlaci, or Office of Saint Thorlak, the
Icelandic Bishop Thorlak Thorhallsson, for the 800th anniversary of his
death in 1193.
In fact preparations for this event began as long ago as 1993 with twin
inspirations: the doctoral thesis of Róbert Abraham Ottóson
(1912-1974), which provided the theoretical underpinning; and the
practical music making drive of a committed and experienced group of
Icelandic musicians, Voces Thules, commemorating Iceland's patron
saint. Although canonized by the Althing just five years after his
death, his sainthood wasn't recognized by Rome until the mid 1980s.
Thorlak was at work in the church in Iceland from an early age and made
extended visits to such centers of learning and musical activity as
Paris, Lincoln and possibly London in his twenties. Turning his back on
secular life, Thorlak (or Ţorlákur [Helgi] Ţórhallsson in Icelandic)
founded an Augustinian monastery at Ţykkvibćr in 1161, from where he
strove to eliminate clerical malpractice.
His Office consists of beautiful and ethereal music. This is clearly
one of many reasons why Voces Thules should turn their attention to it.
But it's also the group's mission to source and prepare "lost"
Icelandic early music, prepare it and perform / record it – to the
advantage of us all. And here is the first fruit of that program, a
very impressive one. As the timeline which comes with the CDs'
stiff-backed presentation booklet (printed in rich yellow on lush
chocolate-colored paper) sets out, Voces Thules (founded in 1992) first
performed sections of the Office in December 1993 in Reykjavík; they
then began a study retreat and started research into the text and
music. Coaches were employed to assist with the mediaeval Latin and a
truly impressive body of research on the background, history and
performance of the Office was undertaken, members of Voces Thules
themselves being intimately involved in all aspects of the work at all
stages.
Within four years the transcription of the work had begun; Voces Thules
performed in Lincolnshire, visited Paris and the Baltic region by the
time the original manuscript had been returned to Iceland. Towards the
end of the decade (1990s) the group had made its first full
performances of the Office in its old form, which ended in a High Mass
and lasted over a day and a half. Exhibitions – for example of the
manuscripts – and university courses relevant to and/or inspired by
Thorlak and his work were mounted in Iceland. By 1999 preparations were
under way for a full recording, which actually took almost five years,
and the result of which is the product to hand. During that process
Voces Thules were invited to perform at some of Europe's most
prestigious and forward-facing early music festivals, including Utrecht
and Bergen. They also toured Japan and worked with organizations
campaigning in support, for example, of HIV positive children.
This enterprise is, then, as much a justified celebration of Icelandic
culture and the Norse contributions to the world as a purely musical
"event". And an event the release of this set is, one to be treasured
by lovers of early music and admirers of the Norse world alike. It
exudes professionalism, collaboration and unselfconscious achievement
at every turn and can be thoroughly recommended.
The Office comprises relevant psalms and antiphons in addition to the
Ordinaries of the mass.
The recordings were made in Halgrím's Church in Iceland. The acoustic
is a spectacular one, and adds particularly well to the sense of
presence which the six-person (all men) Voces Thules bring to the music
making. The first thing you'll notice is the unhurried, relaxed (though
not lax) style of singing. It bespeaks a great confidence and
naturalness, surely very similar to how this chant would have sounded
when it was sung in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The long,
gentle lines are nevertheless maintained; every syllable is clearly and
purposefully articulated. The unison delivery is excellent; it never
lacks character. But more than that, the phrasing is superb. Such
verses charged with meaning as:
Cum vite innocencia
digne freta auctoritas
doctrine affluencia
et signorum immensitas
from the Vespers Hymnus towards the start of the Office
(on CD 1) are
elevated into sublimity not only by the simple undulating embrace of
words and melody, but also by the subdued but nevertheless convincing
pace with which the lines are gently but tirelessly accentuated and
"paid out" like a skilled sailor with ropes of silk. At a more expanded
level such command of the music's structure also helps convey a sense
of time passing, of movement and – given the purpose of the music – of
devotional development. On the three CDs we have ten sections… Vespers;
Complines; Matins; Nocturns; Lauds; Prime; Terce; Sext; Nones; Vespers
again then the Mass.
To put off chores, unplug all electronic devices and rid oneself of all
distractions possible, then sit down and listen from start to finish to
this miraculous music is perhaps not the "soothing incantation"
referred to at the end of the otherwise pleasingly non-commercial
introductory paragraphs – presumably in an attempt to broaden the
project's appeal to those who don't yet understand the context of chant
– ought to go a long way to assisting all but the most hardened
Philistine in that process. After a while the highly responsive and
colorful singing uses its logic and beauty to expel the twenty first
century and move one's emotional as well as intellectual and spiritual
centers of gravity back into an age and location when noiselessness and
environments built for the purposes of worship not tourism really could
engender a concentration so intense as almost to be painful. The
paradox, of course, is that the pain and focus are dissipated by the
very substance of the tenor of the Office itself… humility, wonder,
ritual and power, for example, are each too active and vital to leave
the participant singer, or the listener, in a position of passive
response to the music for very long. The music's sheer simplicity leads
through thrall to involvement. Listening to, yet not waiting for, the
singers' unobtrusive pauses for breath, for instance, add to the sense
of presence, of their communicating as a result of conviction rather
than merely mounting a performance.
There is nothing informal about the music making here, though. It's
professional to the core. The musicology behind it is impeccable and
the presentation in every way exemplary. So if you love plainchant,
have even a passing interest in the very rich yet under-explored
Icelandic culture and/or just want to draw your own peace and
inspiration from beautiful and appropriately characterful unaccompanied
singing, this is a set of CDs warmly to be recommended. The DVD
contains the text and music from the whole Office."
Mark Sealey
classical.net