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Exquisite complexity

23 December 2011
Classic FM Magazine
Philip Clark

The Music The fifth instalment of the Tallis Scholars' projected nine-disc cycle of the complete masses of the Franco-Flemish Renaissance master Josquin des Prés. These masses are all constructed on canons: Missa De beata virgine is an intricate stream-of-consciousness, stretched and discursive. Missa Ave maris stella is more to the point. Both create exquisite sound environments.

The Performance Peter Phillips has two voices to a part, the treble parts sung by women. The recorded sound is up close and personal, putting you right inside the music. So far, so good. And then it gets better. Missa De beata virgine breathes in long and easy-to-get-lost-in paragraphs, like the most complex contemporary score. But the sheer beauty of the sound, and Phillip's unshakable feel for direction, means you want to hang on: miss a single note and you're all the poorer. Missa Ave maris stella is easier to assimilate.

The Verdict An essential buy from a team who never put a note wrong. Excellent, informative booklet notes too.

Reproduced from the February 2012 issue of Classic FM magazine.

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Exquisite complexity