"Santiago a Capella"

As you might know, John Eliot Gardiner has set up a company to record and market the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists. Read about it here:

http://www.monteverdiproductions.co.uk/index.asp

I sampled their first recording, the one shown on the site, music typifying the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, which Gardiner and the Monteverdis untertook last year. I thought that it would have been recorded on the pilgrimage, but it wasn't, it was recorded in the very non-Spanish St. Alban the Martyr, Holborn in April-May 2004. The recording was sponsored by the Caja de Burgos (Burgos Savings Bank), which leads to an unusual booklet in only Spanish and English.

So, what's it like? Brilliant. I had the delusion that I could use it as background music, while I did a bit of work-related reading. No such luck, it wouldn't let me. It's the sort of stuff that demands listening in a darkened room, so that you can get the feel of a great cathedral. The recording is nice and atmospheric, with a feeling of space. The music itself, by Spanish composers such as Lobo and Victoria, does not, to my ears, reach the pinnacle of the glories of the great English Tudor masters, such as Byrd and Tallis, but it's still gorgeous and you can just sit there and wrap yourself in glorious sound.

I look forward to further releases - and yes, of course I've put myself down for the first two volumes of cantatas!

 

Do you mean that there is such an echo that you still hear the first note when the last one is played?
I love recordings in churches: you never know if they are playing out of time purposely.

cheers

 

Not quite that long, Titian! There's the feeling of the music taking place in a big space, with enough reverberation to give it that nice echo, but not so excessive that the textures become muddled. There is one major European cathedral (can't remember which) with a reverb time of 6 seconds, and complex polyphonic music can become muddled. And, yes, I also love music recorded in churches. I switch out all the lights and lie back in my comfy chair and let it all soak in.

 

If I'm not mistaken St Paul's in London has the longest reverb, about 9 seconds if I remember rightly. Went to an organ recital there and it was unbelievably difficult to hear what was going on