Here you have a couple of files with some performaces by
Parodiae
Musica. They are mpeg3 encoded so, to listen to them, you will need the
files and a mpeg3 player.
If you don't have a player yet, we tell you here where to find them for
different operating systems:
-
Windows & Mac: programs winamp & macamp, respectively. You can get them from
here.
-
Linux: you can find a lot at
this address.
Now, these are the mpeg3 files. To download them, click on the tittle of the
corresponding work pressing the
Shift from your keyboard.
The recordings were made at Church of Padul, Granada (Spain), on September the 6th,
1997.
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Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Thomas Tallis (England, c.1505-1585).
Thomas Tallis worked for the four last mornarchs of Tudor's dinasty: Henry
VIII, Edward VII, Mary and Elisabeth Tudor. In the period just before Queen Mary,
England was governed by Protestant reformers, who challenged not only the most
basic tenets of traditional Christian belief but also its outward
manifestations. The liturgy was rewritten, Latin was discarded in favour of
English, devotion to the Saints was outlawed, etc. Even the role of music in
worship was called into question. The effects of this Protestant reform can be
heard clearly in the anthems (as this work) composed by Tallis in this time.
Music became an instrument to serve a purpose other than music itself. The
intelligibility of the words is now one of the main subjects. We can see how Latin
is changed by English, and how in these works the author, that in previous
compositions looked for thrilling and ravishing with pure sound, asks us to
ponder the texts, that Tallis's music intones with the measured gravity of a
preacher.
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Ave Maria, Tomás Luis de Victoria (Spain,
c.1548-1611).
The importance of everything related to religion along the so called Siglo
de Oro (Golden Century) in Spain defines the features of Spanish music of that
moment. We find a concentrated religious polyphony, what produces an austere and
ascetic music. The mysticism is its main feature, obtained by means of a deep
expressivety. Music keeps close to the text (always in Latin), expressing it
with vehemence. Tomás Luis de Victoria is the best example of what we have said.
He worked in Rome from 1565 unti 1585, becoming a composer of international
status and technique. He must be considered a genius, outside national styles.
No other composer ever set liturgical Latin texts with greater understanding,
with more balance and subtlety or ease.
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