Ars Nova

David Lang's "the little match girl passion," for vocal quartet doubling on percussion instruments, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. It's a strong, striking piece with a surprisingly potent emotional punch. Part of its effectiveness derives from the story itself, which is so achingly poignant that it can hardly fail to raise a lump in the throat. The text is primarily compiled from the story by Hans Christian Andersen and from familiar sections from Bach's "St. Matthew Passion," which sound fresh and new in English translation.

The fact that Durante never composed for the stage brought him an exaggerated reputation as a composer of sacred music. Although one of the best church composers of his style and period, he is now considered inferior to both Leonardo Leo and Alessandro Scarlatti, and seems to have founded the sentimental school of Italian church music. This type of music is characteristic of Durante as a man; intellectually uncultured, but sincerely devout. Hasse protested against Durante's being described as the greatest harmonist of Italy, a title which he ascribed to Alessandro Scarlatti.

It’s the fifth studio album by Ars Nova, and the three Japanese girls are doing better and better! The composer Keiko Kumagai, an incredible keyboards virtuoso, influenced by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso or Goblin, has now chosen to concentrate on songs’ atmospheres and structures, more than on high-speed solis and frantic rythms. "Android Domina" is a splendid neo-classic album, more ambitious than before, with more contrasts, subtile atmospheres and dialogues between keyboards.

Orlando Lassus (1532 - 1594) by all accounts seems to have been a colorful character. Throughout his life he outrageously used works with quite frankly erotic overtones as the basis of his sacred works in blatant defiance of the Counter Reformation puritanism whose mood was set by the Council of Trent. However, at the end of his life Lassus suffered a fit of deep depression accompanied by a sudden paroxysm of religious penitence, the result of which was his Lagrime.

Paul Hillier and ArsNova Copenhagen continue their exploration of Danish vocal music. The main work here, Line Tjørnhøj’sVoxReportage, was composed in close cooperation with the artists, and weaves various sources together –including 1981 Nobel laureate Elias Canetti, Chelsea Manning, and Rabi’ahal Adawiyya(8th-century Iraq) –to create a ‘reportage’ on the nature of humanity over the past thousand years. In Carl Nielsen’s Three Motets, Renaissance polyphony and the composer’s more personal style are molded into something fresh and powerful; the Swedish Romantic composer Stenhammarsets Danish texts, while Holmboesets British border ballads. Everything about this album crosses borders of one kind or another!

Ensemble Ars Italica - Musica del XV secolo in Italia - Music From 15th Century Italy (1991) {Tactus TC 40012201 rec 1988}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 286 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 136 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 48 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1988, 1991 Tactus | TC 40012201
Classical / Renaissance / Early Music / Ars Nova

This CD, although its not recommended for a first approach to Ars Nova music, is a fine example of the sound clarity of the compositions of this era. The excellent performance of the works is adding to the general result which is of a very high level. Strongly recommended for the admirers of this kind of music!!

The critically-acclaimed ensemble Mala Punica came into the limelight by the mid-Nineties with three illustrious, multi-award winning discs on Arcana, which revolutionized the world of medieval music: Ars subtilis Ytaliaca, D’Amor ragionando and En attendant.