This album stands out from the common run of Gabrieli releases in several ways. One is simply that the quintessentially British cathedral sound of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, with its delicate boy sopranos, is not what most listeners will be expecting from music written for the sumptuous and complex sound environment of St. Mark's in Venice, with its big ensembles of multiple choruses and brass groups. Obviously your own reaction to hearing this music transplanted to pure English cathedral ground will be ...
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This album stands out from the common run of Gabrieli releases in several ways. One is simply that the quintessentially British cathedral sound of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, with its delicate boy sopranos, is not what most listeners will be expecting from music written for the sumptuous and complex sound environment of St. Mark's in Venice, with its big ensembles of multiple choruses and brass groups. Obviously your own reaction to hearing this music transplanted to pure English cathedral ground will be personal, but don't dismiss it out of hand; the choir at St. Mark's early in the 17th century was smaller than it became later on, and it is likely that it involved the participation of boys. The instrumental group, Her Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts, may also be closer to what Gabrieli used than are the common glittery brass ensembles. Second, the album contains a reconstruction of the Christmas motet Quem vidistis pastores?, which has come down to us in a version from the 1615 Symphoniae...
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