Hilliard Ensemble, The

One of the world’s finest vocal chamber groups, the Hilliard Ensemble has a formidable reputation in the fields of both early and new music. The programme featured here exemplifies its distinctive style and highly developed musicianship in both repertoires. At its heart is a work commissioned by the ensemble from British contemporary composer Roger Marsh: Il Cor Tristo, a setting of cantos 32 and 33 from Dante’s Inferno, which deftly blends Renaissance techniques with a modern idiom. Marsh’s composition frames settings of Petrarch by 16th century composers Bernardo Pisano (1490-1548) and Jacques Arcadelt (c 1507-1568). As so often with the Hilliard singers, the transitions between “old” and “new” are seamless, and the album unfolds like a larger composition. Here one must also credit composer Marsh, who notes that his “primary concern has been to keep Dante’s words clear at all times, and thus you will find in this contemporary music many devices more usually encountered in music of much earlier times.”

PERSONNEL:

DAVID JAMES, countertenor
ROGERS COVEY-CRUMP, tenor sax
STEVEN HARROLD, tenor sax
GORDON JONES, baritone sax

November 28-30, 2012 / Propstei St.Gerold

TRACKS:

01. Or vedi, Amor
02. Nova angeletta
03. Chiare, fresche, e dolci acque
04. Il Cor Tristo – I
05. Solo e pensoso
06. L’aer gravato
07. Tutt’il dì piango
08. Il Cor Tristo – II
09. Si è debile il filo