From Chant to Renaissance

Dennis Keene and Voices of Ascension have offered during the years recordings of remarkable quality. This one is a varied collection of pieces from chant to Renaissance. The earliest pieces,'O virga ac diadema' and 'Ave generosa' are from Hildegard von Bingen, with solos of outstanding purity and skill by Kathy Thell. There are Mass parts chanted by the tenors and basses as well as a beautiful and meditative version of 'Ave verum corpus' by Susanne Peck. The rest of the material is for the full choir, with pieces from a diverse group of composers from Renaissance Europe. The pieces are from texts that are part of the Christian liturgical year and they seemed distributed in no particular order, even though there is a progression from track sixteen onwards to focus on music for Holy Week, with the final tracks reflecting the joy of Easter. Among the highlights of the polyphonic pieces are Byrd's 'Rejoice, rejoice'(a very short and difficult tour de force for the women section of the choir)and 'Sing Joyfully'; Lotti's 'Crucifixus'(the historically latest piece of this program, with impressive dynamics and expression, the second basses finishing with a stunning low C at the final chord); 'Ascendo ad Patrem' by Palestrina glows with clarity and precision. The final pieces by Weelkes bring the program to a triumphant conclusion. Conductor Dennis Keene is successful in bringing the proper balance between tempi in order to give justice to the texts and the ideas presented by the composers. There are very few groups in the music world today that can bring such masterful interpretations of this repertoire as Voices of Ascension. I hope that there are much more recordings of Renaissance music in preparation for this great group.

This is one of the best anthologies of its kind that I know and it comes not from the expected source of one of the many fine English vocal ensembles specialising in polyphonic, Renaissance music, but rather from perhaps the finest American group, Denis Keene's Voices of Ascension, currently celebrating its twentieth anniversary. They offer impeccable tuning in a very clear acoustic, singing music spanning a period from over 900 years ago by Hildegard of Bingen to the "Crucifixus" of Antonio Lotti, not properly of the period but a Baroque composer here writing in an already retrospective mode. My favourites include the sublime simplicity of the Farrant/Hilton(?) "Lord, for thy tender mercy's sake" and Byrd's "Ave Verum Corpus", but every piece is sung with poise and devotion. A beautiful collection, which covers not only 600 years of music from the Middle Ages to Baroque but also a variety of styles from Gregorian chant to complex anthems, and also spans the liturgical year, all arranged in no particular order other than to provide an emotionally satisfying and varied sequence. German, French, English, Dutch and Italian composers feature in a huge diversity of music united by its inner, transecendent quality. This disc is now available very cheaply on Marketplace. Buy it.

This is a stunning recording, including well-known and not-so-well-known works.