This is the second collection from Naxos to focus on the Piae Cantiones of 1582. In contrast to the Retrover Ensemble’s offering for mixed voices and instruments, Jeremy Summerly’s survey has only voices, and only four female ones at that. This is a sensible decision, in that much of the collection’s contents would have been sung by choirboys. (Obviously, a recording with choirboys would be even more ‘authentic’, and the quality of these two discs ought to convince an enterprising choral director to take up the challenge. A few of the items appear on both recordings, but the manner of performance is in each case very different.)
It is a fascinating, indeed unique collection, since much of the music is monophonic and may be traced back to the beginning of the millennium. In Summerly’s selection, polyphony plays a greater role (though it is still in the minority), but this is hardly a problem: the opening Aetas Carmen sets a confident, almost brash tone (compared with the Retrover Ensemble’s), quite a contrast to the devotional Jesu dulcis memoria, one of only two four-voice pieces in the collection. Another outstanding piece is the simply but subtly constructed two-voice Parce Christus spes reorum. The tunes Resonet in laudibus, In dulci jubilo and Tempus adest floridum add a definite Christmassy feel, and give this super-budget-price issue a real stocking-stuffer potential.
In short, I cannot recall when a disc from this ensemble brought me greater pleasure. The singers (Carys-Anne Lane, Rebecca Outram, Helen Groves and Caroline Trevor) deserve individual mention for a fine achievement.'