Lobo

During the years before and after 1600, Portugal produced a small crop of masterful Requiem Masses. All of them seem to have taken Victoria's famous six-voice Requiem as a model, setting the traditional chant melodies in long notes in one of the soprano parts, accompanied by harmonious chords rather than imitative counterpoint. The Requiem by Duarte Lôbo presented here is a particularly good example. Like his compatriots, Lôbo composed his Requiem in a major tonality; Victoria's captivating gloom is replaced by an equally captivating sweetness–this funeral music is anything but morose. The Missa vox clamantis is altogether more extroverted, with a striking octave leap that begins every movement. Peter Phillips and the Tallis Scholars give the skillful, sonorous performances we've come to expect from them.

Like David Hill, Jeremy Summerly moves the music of each Mass on fairly briskly until the Sanctus and Agnus Dei, when a poignant contrast. The two motets on which the Masses are based are sung as postludes, and very beautiful they are, especially the idyllic O magnum mysterium. Finally, the short Verse est in Luctum (a setting of a section of the Requim Mass) by Alonso Lôbo, a Spanish contemporary, ends the concert serenely. The recording is excellent and this is a fine bargain.

Lôbo & Cardoso - Portuguese Requiem Masses - Schola Cantorum of Oxford, Jeremy Summerly (1992) {Naxos 8.550682}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 210 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 121 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1992 HNH Int. / Naxos | 8.550682
Classical / Renaissance / Baroque / Choral / Sacred / Masses

Jeremy Summerly and his Oxford Schola Cantorum is beautifully paced and the calibre of the singing itself is very impressive indeed, as is the Naxos recording. …the singing is unique: forthright, direct, fresh, recorded quite ‘tight’ and making this 17th-century music as emotive as possible.

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