Il Convitto Armonico, Stefano Buschini - Victoria: Missa O quam gloriosum, Mottetti e Inni (2012)

The Tomaso da Vittoria mentioned on the cover of this Italian release is none other than Spaniard Tomás Luís de Victoria. Even the booklet notes, in both their Italian and English forms, use the Spanish name; only the cover says "Vittoria." This composer's exquisitely somber yet perfectly balanced motets, several beautiful and famous examples of which are included here, are often known to those who've sung with collegiate choirs on either side of the Atlantic. Victoria may have studied with Palestrina, and his music has an uncanny effect, suggesting that of Palestrina, shrouded in shadow. The motets are certainly the high points of his output, but a sampling of his work that includes other genres is certainly welcome, and this one is very nicely set up. The largest work on the album is the Missa O quam gloriosum est regnum, which carries layers of reference that would have made perfect sense to Renaissance singers: it is based on a motet (it's a "parody mass," taking polyphonic chunks of the model as points of depature), which is in turn based on a piece of chant. On disc, it is preceded by both those pieces, and the result is a rare insight into the ways Renaissance hearers would have perceived the parody mass. It's also interesting that the characteristic dark colors of Victoria's music are present in the mass even in a situation where the word-painting of the motets was largely unavailable to him. The motets -- short, stark, largely homophonic works that epitomize the Counter Reformation ideals against which even Palestrina struggled -- are given a rich sound by the 16-member, adult mixed-gender group Il Convitto Armonico. Sample their singing a bit: vibrato ripples through the soprano section in a way that may irritate those used to pristine English choirs, but the group has the blue passion that makes a Victoria performance tick. The program concludes with three hymns that elaborate pieces of chant in a different way. A reasonable way for those who have heard the well-known Victoria motets and want to go deeper into the work of this Spanish composer. The booklet notes aren't going to win any design awards, but neither do they bog down in technical minutiae.