Following the great success
of their previous release (Schutz's Musicalische Exequien RIC311) Vox Luminis
present a discs of music written for English monarchs. A disc of funeral music
may not be full of the joys of spring, but nonetheless is a joy to hear such
beautiful performances.
The programme begins with
what could be one of Purcell's most perfect creations. 'Hear my Prayer' is
simply a mini masterpiece, comprised of arching melodies much like the splendid
fan vaulted canopies of a baroque cathedral. There then follows music familiar
to some as the opening music to the Stanley Kubrick classic 'A Clockwork
Orange', the 'Queen's Funeral March'. Its scoring for trumpets and drums gives
the piece solemnity and gravitas.
The centre pieces of the
disc are the funeral sentences by Thomas Morley. Having both the Purcell and
Morley settings on the same disc really highlights how music had changed during
the 17th century. Morley sets the funeral texts in a syllabic, homophonic
style. Purcell on the other hand, throws every device available to him to
express every line of text, sometimes with dramatic results. This is a knock
out disc.
The video
below shows Vox Luminis at the recording sessions for this CD performing Thomas
Weelke's "Death hath deprived me of my dearest friend", a
eulogy on the death of Thomas Morley in 1602.
bathcds@btinternet.com
Written by Jason Hatton
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