The name Carlo Gesualdo immediately evokes extreme madrigals with capricious melodies and crazed harmonies. But in his motets, the ‘Prince of Venosa’ reveals himself in a different light. The Sacrarum Cantionum are the soundtrack to a quest for calm, clarity and order. The always excellent Stile Antico presents Gesualdo’s most beautiful songs for five voices in Latin with disarming transparency: each voice can be heard separately, yet collectively they form an organic fabric of sound that constantly reveals new timbres and textures. This rarely performed collection – subjected to new research by the Alamire Foundation especially for the occasion – reveals a Gesualdo who is both experimental and profoundly spiritual: a fascinating sound portrait of one of the most remarkable artistic personalities alive in 1600.
Program
C. Gesualdo: Sacrarum cantionum
Performers
Helen Ashby, Kate Ashby, Rebecca Hickey, superius | Emma Ashby, Cara Curran, Rosie Parker, cantus | Tom Castle, Andrew Griffiths, Jonathan Hanley, Benedict Hymas, tenor | James Arthur, Nathan Harrison, Gareth Thomas, bassus