From Spain To Eternity - The Sacred Polyphony Of El Grecos Toledo Ensemble Plus Ultra

• 1 Versa est in luctum 05:16
• 2 Clamabat autem mulier Chananea 03:37
• 3 Prudentes virgines 04:48
• 4 Kyrie 03:45
• 5 Gloria 05:34
• 6 Credo 07:45
• 7 Sanctus 03:26
• 8 Benedictus 02:38
• 9 Agnus Dei 06:08
• 10 Quanti mercernarii 05:24
• 11 Rex autem David 04:40
• 12 Expandit Sion manus suas 10:33
• 13 Miserere mei, Deus 03:36
• 14 Ave regina coelorum 03:27
• Total Runtime 01:10:37

Info zu From Spain To Eternity - The Sacred Polyphony Of El Grecos Toledo

In 2011 Deutsche Grammophon released a spectacular 10-CD anthology on Archiv Produktion with Ensemble Plus Ultra (EPU), “the finest British early music singers” (Early Music Today), commemorating the 400th anniversary of Tomas de Victoria’s death. This box sold about 6.100 units worldwide and won a Gramophone award.

Now the award winning ensemble is back with a major recording project to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of El Greco in 2014 – composers including Cristobal de Morales, Alonso Lobo and Alonso de Tejeda were prolific in Toledo during the 37 years El Greco lived and worked there, and much of this music certainly inspired his painting.

Morales is THE Spanish composer of the Renaissance. Morales – Kapellmeister at the cathedral in Toledo, but also in Italian cities – is generally considered to be the most influential Spanish composer before Victoria. Almost all of his music is sacred, and all of it is vocal.

Pieces by Lobo and Tejeda make a wonderful conclusion to the album – all in all a varied program, and encompassing three composers from Toledo during the time of El Greco.

Ensemble Plus Ultra

Ensemble Plus Ultra
Founded in 2001, Ensemble Plus Ultra is ‘a crack squad of the finest British early music singers’ (Early Music Today) whose quest is the promotion of historically-aware performances of liturgical marvels from the Renaissance. The ensemble is known for its zesty, innovative performances, which always display rigorous attention to musical and historical detail, and is driven by a spirit of discovery, of unveiling musical treasures from the past, and exploring unchartered polyphonic waters.

In recognition of its unique approach, Ensemble Plus Ultra was awarded the prestigious 2012 Gramophone Award for Early Music for its ten-disc box set of the music of Tomás Luis de Victoria, recorded for the Deutsche Grammophon Archiv label.

Ensemble Plus Ultra’s name is inspired by the motto Plus Ultra (‘thus far, and further’) chosen by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1519–56) and King of Spain (as Charles I, 1516–56). This was a re-interpretation of the legendary Pillars of Hercules as a gateway to expanded horizons rather than, as his predecessors had thought, the limiting borders of the Mediterranean and the known world. Simply by discarding Non from the original motto Non Plus Ultra, Charles lent his imperial blessing to voyages of geographical and cultural discovery that continue to this day; with the stroke of a pen ‘thus far, no further’ became ‘thus far, and further’.

Ensemble Plus Ultra is not a choir but a consort of chamber musicians – a very different approach from other early music groups. It also benefits from a close association with a group of scholars specialising in Renaissance vocal music, allowing it to call upon the latest musicological research and ensuring its repertoire is always interesting and unusual and often previously unheard.

Examples of compositions uncovered by Ensemble Plus Ultra include the works of Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500–53), the focus of the group’s widely acclaimed debut recording on the Glossa label, Morales en Toledo. This project was followed by the first ever recording dedicated solely to the music of Fernando de las Infantas (1534–c. 1610), the Spanish-born composer and theologian who settled in Rome in the 1560s. While Spanish music has been the mainstay of Ensemble Plus Ultra’s repertoire, the group is equally at home performing music of other nations. Recent recordings include compositions by sixteenth-century Italian musical theorist Gioseffo Zarlino, by German physician, alchemist and musician Michael Maier, and by celebrated English composer William Byrd.

Ensemble Plus Ultra has toured widely in Europe and North America. The group has recently given concerts throughout Spain (Madrid, Granada, Cuenca, Santander, León), at festivals in Regensburg, Utrecht, London and Cambridge, and made its US debut in October 2011 with performances in Boston and New York City.

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet