Lassus: Lagrime di San Pietro (Tears of San Pietro) Gallicantus & Gabriel Crouch

• Orlando di Lasso (1532 - 1594): Lagrime di San Pietro (Tears of San Pietro):
• 1 1a parte - Il Magnanimo Pietro 02:12
• 2 2a parte - Ma gli archi 02:25
• 3 3a parte - Tre volte haveva a l'importuna e audace 02:21
• 4 4a parte - Qual' a l'incontro di quegli occhi santi 02:44
• 5 5a parte - Giovane donna il suo bel volto in specchio 02:15
• 6 6a parte - Cosi tal'hor 02:00
• 7 7a parte - Ogni occhio del Signor lingua veloce 02:12
• 8 8a parte - Nessun fedel trovai, nessun cortese 02:44
• 9 9a parte - Chi ad una ad una raccontar potesse 02:18
• 10 10a parte - Come falda di neve 02:54
• 11 11a parte - E non fu il pianto suo rivo o Torrente 02:19
• 12 12a parte - Quel volto 02:35
• 13 13a parte - Veduto il miser quanto differente 03:09
• 14 14a parte - E vago d'incontrar chi giusta pena 02:40
• 15 15a parte - Vattene vitav va 02:31
• 16 16a parte - O vita troppo rea 02:35
• 17 17a parte - A quanti gia felici in giovinezza 02:25
• 18 18a parte - Non trovava mia fe se duro intoppo 02:31
• 19 19a parte - Queste opre e più 02:14
• 20 20a parte - Negando il mio Signor 02:27
• 21 21a parte - Vide homo 03:47
• Total Runtime 53:18

Info for Lassus: Lagrime di San Pietro (Tears of San Pietro)

Orlande de Lassus, Europe’s most famous musician during his lifetime, created nothing finer than the Lagrime di San Pietro, a collection of twenty spiritual madrigals and one motet for seven voices; A cycle of intense reflections on the sorrows of St Peter following his denial of Christ, it was assembled shortly before the composer’s death in 1594 and dedicated to Pope Clement VIII. Into this collection Lassus pours every dramatic nuance and piece of harmonic invention he could possibly muster, hurling the listener through the stages of Peter’s rage, remorse and resignation, and concluding with a motet that presents Christ’s response to the world. Gallicantus (Latin for ‘song of the rooster’) add to their already impressive catalogue of works on Signum with this new recording. Their previous release The Word Unspoken: „Sacred Music by William Byrd and Philippe de Monte was picked as a critics' choice disc 2012 (BBC Radio 3)

"... It is nigh on impossible to put just how good this recording is into words, so I am going to stop trying, and just say this: this recording is something that absolutely must be experienced. You will not regret it at all." (Recording of the Month, Musicweb International)

"Gallicantus's robust and committed account will hearten those who fear for the future of this repertory on disc. The countertenors on the top lines are a vigorous alternative to women's voices." (Fabrice Fitch, Gramophone Magazine)

"Gallicantus sing this cycle of sacred madrigals and its climactic motet with all the gravity and respect it requires as the major milestone in the development of art music that it was. Live, on a rainy Sunday afternoon at the Wigmore Hall, it was one of the most profound musical experiences of my year; on disc it comes almost as close." (Caroline Gill, Gramophone)

Gallicantus
Gabriel Crouch, direction

Gallicantus
The membership of Gallicantus, comprising some of Britain’s nest consort singers, is bound by a belief in the rhetorical power of great Renaissance music. Under the direction of Gabriel Crouch, the group creates performance projects which explore narratives and draw out unifying themes within apparently diverse repertoire. Literally meaning ‘rooster song’ or ‘cock crow’, Gallicantus was a name used in monastic antiquity for the office held just before dawn, which celebrated the renewal of life and offered a sense of gratitude and optimism for the coming day.

Gallicantus has performed in many significant venues and festivals in the UK (Wigmore Hall, Spital elds Festival, York Early Music Festival), Germany, Austria, Poland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Estonia and Norway. In the USA the group holds regular residencies at universities such as Yale and Princeton, giving concerts and interacting with student vocalists and composers, and has recently made its debut at Carnegie Hall.

Gallicantus regularly releases benchmark programmes on CD on the Signum label, which form the basis of their concert programmes. With “Hymns, Psalms and Lamentations”, dedicated to the music of Robert White, critics acclaimed an “impressive debut” (Observer) of “impassioned, exciting music” (The Times), whilst Gramophone Magazine declared: “What an outstanding disc... The opening of the Lamentations could stand as a kind of illuminated initial at the beginning of a gorgeous manuscript, so transparent and luminous is it.” Their second recording “Dialogues of Sorrow - Passions on the Death of Prince Henry (1612)”, was described as “one of the best choral releases of the year” by TheArtsDesk.com, possessing “singing of clarity, suppleness and poignancy” (Daily Telegraph); whilst International Record Review proclaimed “... this is a well sung, intelligently produced and exhaustively researched project, which deserves great success.”

The 2012 release “The Word Unspoken”, featuring music by William Byrd and Philippe de Monte was equally well received, with The Sunday Times saying “The intensity of the music is reflected in Gallicantus’s beautifully shaped performances”. It was named ‘Editor’s Choice’ in Gramophone Magazine, which noted that “the ensemble’s view is delivered with such intelligence and rhetorical persuasiveness that the cumulative weight of their Byrd, in particular, is well-nigh symphonic in effect.” The group’s fourth CD - the remarkable Lagrime di San Pietro by Lassus, has cemented Gallicantus as one of Europe’s foremost early music ensembles, earning a second consecutive ‘Editor’s Choice’ selection from Gramophone, as well as nomination for a coveted Gramophone Award in 2014.

Elizabeth Kenny
is one of Europe’s leading lute players. Her playing has been described as “incandescent” (Music and Vision), “radical” (The Independent on Sunday) and “indecently beautiful” (Toronto Post). In twenty years of touring she has played with many of the world’s best period instrument groups, including extended spells with Les Arts Florissants and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She has an extensive discography of collaborations with chamber ensembles across Europe and the USA, and her own repertoire interests have led to critically acclaimed recordings of solo music from the ML Lute Book, and songs by Lawes, Purcell and Dowland. In 2007 she formed Theatre of the Ayre, who have become known for their innovative approach to seventeenth century music for voices and instruments. In 2011 she was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards in the best instrumentalist category.

She was a member of the artistic advisory team for the York Early Music Festival from 2011-2014. She returned to York in 2016 with Theatre of the Ayre as judge for the National Centre for Early Music’s Young Composers’ Award, as part of a growing commitment to new work for lute and theorbo: She has given premiere performances of solo and chamber pieces by James MacMillan, Benjamin Oliver, Heiner Goebbels and Rachel Stott.

Elizabeth taught for two years at the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, and is Professor of Musical Performance at Southampton University and Professor of Lute at the Royal Academy of Music. She guest-edited a Dowland-themed issue of Early Music to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 2013, and is the author of occasional articles on seventeenth century performance.

This album contains no booklet.