Adorning the cover of this release by Britain's Armonico Consort is Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, who stands for just about anything anyone wants her to. The collection of mostly sacred a cappella music comes from various periods and is presented without its texts, largely shorn of historical context. The cover text merely informs the buyer that the composers involved "wore their hearts on their sleeves," which is a pretty vague concept, and it refers to live Naked Byrd concerts featuring plainchant and violin ...
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Adorning the cover of this release by Britain's Armonico Consort is Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, who stands for just about anything anyone wants her to. The collection of mostly sacred a cappella music comes from various periods and is presented without its texts, largely shorn of historical context. The cover text merely informs the buyer that the composers involved "wore their hearts on their sleeves," which is a pretty vague concept, and it refers to live Naked Byrd concerts featuring plainchant and violin improvisations, neither of which is present here. The title of Tallis' Loquebantur variis linguis is misspelled on the cover and in the tracklist. In short, the disc threatens to be a perfect example of goopy choral sentimentalism. And it is nothing of the sort. The heart-on-the-sleeve characterization is redeemed by an intense yet carefully controlled small-choir sound unlike anything else on the British scene. Sample the Tallis (track 3) for an introduction. Director Christopher...
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