Classics Reconsidered: Machaut
Taverner Choir and Consort / Andrew Parrott
Erato (orig EMI/HMV Re lexe)
Edward Breen and Fabrice Fitch revisit the pioneering 1983 recording of Machaut’s Mass by Andrew Parrott and his Taverner Choir and Consort
Edward Breen I remember exactly where I was when I first heard this Mass. Christopher Page played an extract on BBC Radio 3’s Spirit of the Age in a 1993 interview with Andrew Parrott marking 20 years of the Taverner Choir, Consort and Players. I’m fairly sure they talked about the decision to perform this music a cappella, but I’d already heard the Hilliard Ensemble’s 1987 recording so the point seemed obvious. Yet something about the absolute confidence of blend and tuning struck me to the extent that I wrote to Broadcasting House for the programme fact sheet, and it then became the first CD I ever owned. I had a similar sensation when I first heard Glenn Gould: all the fussiness of classical music performance seemed to have been eliminated, and the musical texture was completely exposed and clear.
Edward Breen and Fabrice Fitch revisit the pioneering 1983 recording of Machaut’s Mass by Andrew Parrott and his Taverner Choir and Consort
Edward Breen I remember exactly where I was when I first heard this Mass. Christopher Page played an extract on BBC Radio 3’s Spirit of the Age in a 1993 interview with Andrew Parrott marking 20 years of the Taverner Choir, Consort and Players. I’m fairly sure they talked about the decision to perform this music a cappella, but I’d already heard the Hilliard Ensemble’s 1987 recording so the point seemed obvious. Yet something about the absolute confidence of blend and tuning struck me to the extent that I wrote to Broadcasting House for the programme fact sheet, and it then became the first CD I ever owned. I had a similar sensation when I first heard Glenn Gould: all the fussiness of classical music performance seemed to have been eliminated, and the musical texture was completely exposed and clear.
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For the full text of this article please visit: Gramophone June 2024
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