The Voice in the Garden: Spanish Songs & Motets, 1480-1550

Christopher Page, Gothic Voices

Released on 9/1/93 by Hyperion
Main artists: Gothic Voices Christopher Page
Genre: Classical

Digital booklet

Available in

16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

Hyperion's The Voice in the Garden, featuring Gothic Voices under Christopher Page, is subtitled "Spanish Songs and Motets, 1480-1550"; this disc presents a mixed recital of popular songs, Latin religious pieces, and instrumental solos that provides the panoramic view of middle-renaissance Spanish culture. Page and his group have studied the accents of the highly colloquial Spanish language of this era and deliver the music in a slightly casual and slangy way, not employing the usual purity of tone heard in their realizations of English and French music, though this approach is utilized on a couple of the Latin sacred pieces heard here. The instrumental pieces, taken from intabulations, are beautifully played by Christopher Wilson on vihuela and Andrew Lawrence-King. These come through much quieter than the vocal pieces and may trigger the volume jockey in some, but the disc as a whole is actually comfortably balanced and to best enjoy it one should leave the volume knob in one place.
In The Voice in the Garden, Gothic Voices are looking at a time and place in Spanish music that is little understood as a unit; while the instrumental music -- mainly by Luys Milan and Luys de Narváez -- is known to some extent through their adaptation by classical guitarist and widespread use among lutenists, the vocal music, much of it popular in orientation, is hardly known to anyone. In focusing in this area, Gothic Voices have discovered that the prevalent composer in Spain during this time was Francisco de Peñalosa, and he is the most represented name here, although some listeners deep into the universe of Renaissance music might know the name of Juan del Encina. Overall, both the style and sound of this music are so remote and alien to even seasoned medievalists that it would take some disciplined listening to divine the differences between the various composers represented, apart from the obvious alternations between vocal and instrumental pieces. So while there may be a learning curve ahead, Gothic Voices are great teachers, and if you are in need of a vehicle to explore Spanish music of the mid-Renaissance period, then Hyperion's The Voice in the Garden is like having a Rolls Royce to drive around. This disc was reissued in 2009 on the more modestly priced Helios label.

© TiVo

More info

The Voice in the Garden: Spanish Songs & Motets, 1480-1550

Gothic Voices

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From kr133.33/month

Mi libertad en sosiego

Christopher Page

00:01:35

Anonymous, Author - Evelyn Tubb, Soprano, AssociatedPerformer - Stephen Charlesworth, Baritone, AssociatedPerformer - Juan del Encina, Composer - Andrew Tusa, Tenor, AssociatedPerformer - Gothic Voices, Choir, MainArtist - Christopher Page, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaret Philpot, Alto, AssociatedPerformer