choralschola.at
1963
Vox Box SVBX 5206 (3 LP)
c. 1967
Turnabout Vox TV 34181S (LP)
Jalons de la Musique JM 070 (LP)
1991
Vox Box CDX 5010 (2 CD)
Vox Box 1154852 (2 CD)
1993
Allegretto / Vox ACD 8156 (CD)
10-14. November, 1961
Wiener Konzerthaus - Studio
Gregorianik
aus der Liturgie des Kirchenjahres
Gregorianische Gesänge zur Weihnachtszeit
A
1 - Introit (Mode
8): Ad te levavi [3:53]
Advent: 1st Sunday
2 - Introit (Mode 4): Rorate caeli desuper
[3:19]
Advent: 4th Sunday
3 - Communion (Mode 7): Dicite – Pusillanimes
[1:12]
Advent: 3rd Sunday
4 - Introit (Mode 1): Gaudete in Domini
[4:37]
Advent: 3rd Sunday
5 - Offertory (Mode 8): Ave Maria, gratia plena
[2:36]
Advent: 4th Sunday
6 - Hymn (Mode 1): Jesu Redemptor omnium
[2:29]
Christmas: Vespers
B
7 - Introit (Mode 7): Puer natus est nobis
[3:32]
Christmas: 3rd Mass
8 - Alleluia (Mode 2): Alleluia. Dies sanctificatus
[3:02]
Christmas: 3rd Mass
9 - Communion (Mode 8): Video caelos apertos
[1:18]
Feast of St. Stephen (26 December)
10 - Gradual (Mode 2): Justus et palma florebit
[3:41]
Feast of the Holy Confessor (1st Mass of a Confessor not a
Bishop)
11 - Offertory (Mode 1): Jubilate Deo universa terra
[4:01]
After Epiphany: 2nd Sunday
12 - Communion (Mode 6): Dicit Dominus
[1:52]
After Epiphany: 2nd Sunday
Choralschola der Wiener Hofburgkapelle
Josef Schabaßer
Gregorian Chants for Christmas
The pattern of this disc is
similar to that of its predecessor, Gregorian Chants for Lent
and Easter, which I reviewed in the March 1967 issue of THE
GRAMOPHONE. The Chants on Side 1 run from the first Sunday in Advent to
the second Sunday after Epiphany but, as before, – are not arranged in
the liturgical sequence. We are given the Introit of the fourth Sunday
in Advent before the Communion of the third, and then go back to the
Introit of the latter. This is perhaps done for the sake of variety but
for those who follow the music in the Liber Usualis
it means a lot of page turning. Side 2, however, does run in sequence.
The commentaries by Josef Schabasser, the director, remind me of the
somewhat rhapsodic outpourings of Dom Gajard in his notes on the Decca
Solemnes recordings. One respects these as coming from men who have
meditated deeply on the music but, in this case, it leads, in regard to
the Introit, Rorate caeli desuper, to comments such
as 'Man calls out to God: almost violently commanding his Redeemer to
descend'. The sober singing of the Vienna Hofburgkapelle, entirely
lacking in 'great urgency', completely negates this description. In the
Communion chant for the second Sunday after Epiphany – which is about
the miracle at Cana – we are told that when the steward tastes the
water changed into wine he is 'furious', complaining it has been kept
to the last. Here the joyful highflung phrases signify exactly the
opposite – and this the choir do express – and then the note says that
'Jesus stands nearby, as the melody tells us. . . with an almost
humorous smile'. It is only fair to say that these are extreme
examples, much in the other commentaries being useful and relevant. As
before the tone and phrasing of the small male choir is excellent. They
manage the splendid long phrases of the Jubilate Deo
Offertory chant for the Second Sunday after Epiphany very well but in
general the lack of variety of tone and pace, not to say imagination,
tends to monotony.
In spite of this, as I said about the previous disc, one welcomes
material much of which is not otherwise available and one is not alter
all meant to play the disc right through. The recording itself is very
good and the words, Latin and English, are given of all the chants
together with a liturgical calendar of their occurrence. This also
refers to the page numbers on which they will be found in the Liber
Usualis.
A. R.
Gramophone, December, 1968
Gregorian Chants
(3
LP), Vox Box, 1963
Offertories, Alleluias, Graduals, Hymns, Antiphons, Introits,
Communions & Sequences
for the CHRISTMAS Season & EASTER
Gregorian Chants for all Seasons (2 CD), Vox Box,
1991-92
CHRISTMAS, EASTER
Canto Gregoriano (4 CD), DSN, 1992
CHRISTMAS, EASTER
Gregorian Chants (CD), Allegretto / Vox, 1993
CHRISTMAS
