The Gonzaga Band - Garland: Devotional Chamber Music from the Age of Monteverdi (2009)

Cornettist Jamie Savan founded The Gonzaga Band in 1997 and leads them here in a wellchosen program of vocal and instrumental music. The ideal of cornett-playing was to emulate the human voice, and in these pieces the cornett is used very effectively as a second "voice" or as an obbligato instrument.

The best performances are the ones with the cornett: either bringing its sweet, sensitive, and varied colors to Rognoni's divisions on Palestrina's `Pulchra Es Amica Mei' (with organ) and nonchalant sprezzatura skill and dashing touch to Frescobaldi's canzona `La Bernardinia' (with harpsichord), or in tandem with soprano Faye Newton as they honor the Heavenly Queen (in Donati's `O Gloriosa Domina') and summon those who thirst for the Lord (in Monteverdi's `Venite, Sitientes Ad Aquas').

Other performances are good, but do not rise to this standard. Some of the soprano top notes are rather harsh (as in Grandi's `Jesu, Mi Dulcissime', accompanied by theorbo and with a nice use of decoration and fittingly reverent mood). Instrumental toccatas by Frescobaldi, Kapsberger, Picchi, and Piccinini supply variety and are quite well played. The final piece unites the cornett and soprano once again in Merula's florid and joyous antiphon `Gaudeamus Omnes'. The text leaves a blank for the saint's name, so the ensemble honors Santa Barbara, patron of Mantua, the ducal seat of their namesake, the Gonzaga family. -- American Record Guide, Catherine Moore, November-December 2009

This collection of 17 pieces by 14 composers, nearly all of whom composed in the early 17th century (the time of Shakespeare and Elizabeth I, more or less), has the charm of limited formality without being informal and the feel of sacred music without being officially liturgical. This means the music can range over a wider range of tempos, not always pledged to the processional, can employ syncopation, and it can experiment with arrangements in instrumental combinations that had not become as traditionally encrusted as "official" church music. It is performed by The Gonzaga Band, a variable group that for this CD consists of three virtuoso instrumentalists (Jamie Savan, trombone, cornets; Richard Sweeney, theorbo; and Steven Divine, harpsichord and organ) and an equally virtuosic soprano (Faye Newton).

This anthology is performed with the assurance of a group that has been together since 1997, and has been involved in the original-instrument movement to the extent that each of their instruments is a facsimile of a museum piece, even the theorbo or double-necked lute. Of the soprano, Faye Newton, no higher praise can I muster than to say she reminds me of Emma Kirkby. In particular, she can move her voice in and out of vibrato when the music requires. As an ensemble that chooses its repertoire from the same period as Jordi Savall's Hespèrion, they deserve more listening. And as an ensemble that can constitute itself in a number of combinations as the music requires, they have great flexibility. What more can I say to recommend them than the group sounds, at times, like Hespèrion? And the soprano often sounds like Emma Kirkby? I've already praised the instrumentalists. Okay. I know. The recorded sound is on the usual high plain we've come to expect of Chandos. Really fine.

For the sake of brevity, I will offer comments on only those pieces that (I feel) put forward the group's best efforts. On Grandi's Jesu mi dulcissime, Newton displays the "trill" vibrato she has up her sleeve, while Sweeney, on theorbo, carries the ball for most of that selection. In Piccinini's Tocatta XII, the harpsichordist (Divine) plays unaccompanied very stylishly. In Donati's O gloriosa Domina, Newton sings a duet with Savan, the cornetist, while the others serve as accompaniment. In Bovicelli's Angelus ad pastores, Newton in duet with the organ slides effortlessly between bel canto sections on held notes that have either no vibrato or standard brand vibrato, with what I call her "trill vibes" thrown in for good measure at the finale. Frescobaldi's canzona La Bernardinia shows the harpsichord and cornet in a duet that is agreeably lively. The organist, Divine, gets a solo in Picchi's Tocatta, and shows himself up to the task. And so it goes, with the theorbo in duet with the organ, and the soprano in duet with the cornet, again, until the disc runs out.

If I have one small caveat, it is that the music is often in the same register, the range of the soprano, and the tempos are often repetitive. The effect is every piece, though it is not the same as the others, seems very similar (even the solo harpsichord piece), which makes this album a kind of niche offering for those who like late-Renaissance music, of which group I number myself. I realize this is not music for everyone. But, if you are adventurous, or want to fill a void in your collection, this album is a worthwhile place to begin. Recommended, with reservations. -- Fanfare, Ilya Oblomov, Jan-Feb 2010