Recordings of Portuguese polyphony of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries are certainly proliferating like field mushrooms after a warm, dry spell. It was during this period that the Portuguese 'school' reached its apogee, only slightly later than Spain but at a time when other areas, notably the north Italian centres, had moved on. This probably accounts for the almost total neglect of the Portuguese repertory in history books and, until recently, on record. The stile antico retained its hold pretty firmly over compositional developments in the Iberian peninsula well into the seventeenth century, although some composers, like Filipe de Magalhaes, freely adapted the contrapuntal techniques of previous generations to suit their own concerns, including the adoption of a richer harmonic language. These three recordings introduce us to some more of this neglected repertory, and demonstrate that while it is generally of a consistently high quality, it embraced a wide range of response from the individual composers who contributed to it.
Pro Cantione Antiqua, then under the direction of Bruno Turner, was one of the first groups to explore the field with their ''Portuguese Church Music'', but several groups, including The Sixteen, have followed suit in recent years. More notably still, one choir, based in Oxford, has been formed with the sole purpose of performing and recording this music: A Capella Portuguesa which enjoys the scholarly but also musical input of its directors Owen Rees and Bernadette Nelson. Rees also directs the Cambridge Taverner Choir, whose recording of works by Pedro de Cristo, Aires Fernandez and Duarte Lobo on Herald, was shortlisted for this year's Gramophone Early music Award. There is only one overlap between this and the recording by ACP—as opposed to PCA—of ''Music from Renaissance Coimbra''. I have already commented on the felicitous blend of research and musicianship to be found on that recording, and these two discs present more of the same, with enlightening insert-notes, an attempt at a Portuguese pronunciation of Latin and a very satisfying way of presenting the music, both from the listener's and the academic's point of view. Both recordings are to some degree reconstructions, of a Marian Mass as sung by the royal chapel in Lisbon in about 1635 and of various feasts and services of special importance celebrated at the monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra. Whatever the arguments for and against such reconstructions, the mix of polyphony, chant and organ music works extremely well.
The PCA recording, on the other hand, presents a variety of motets and lamentations, with none of the contrast inherent in the original context in which the music would have been heard. In other ways, too, it now seems rather outdated—though there is much that is fine about it. The single-voice, all-male approach of PCA is in many ways a bonus, but one here marred by the intrusive vibratos or rather harsh tone of some of the individual singers. The small choir comprising ACP, with sopranos and countertenors, is just as flexible but, with barely perceived vibrato, allows for greater clarity of texture. There are moments on PCA's recording of the sombre polyphony of Morago and Melgas of startling effectiveness: they can bring a darkness of sound quality and intensity of tone that works very well in this music. But there are too many other times when the texture is so muddied by vibrato that almost any sense of line—and even pitch—is swept away. Ivan Moody's notes talk of Morago's ''clean contrapuntal technique'' and ''daring handling of dissonance'', but such features are often obscured by the performance. Not so in ACP's recordings, though if one were to be very critical, the tone of the countertenors occasionally jars, and exposed entries just sometimes sound a little undernourished. Yet this small mixed choir is quite able to give performances of such intensity that one can feel emotionally drained after listening to them. We know very little about how much, if any, vibrato would have been used by such chapel choirs at this period, about the contribution of falsettists and/or castratos. Female sopranos would certainly have been out, though they are now widely accepted as pseudo-boys.
Perhaps none of this need worry us too greatly, the only real concern being how well—or ill—the music is served by whichever approach is adopted now. Rees, Nelson and their choir capture, for me anyway, so well the ebb and flow of the music and the contrast in mood created by the varying liturgical functions and contexts of it, that I would recommend their discs wholeheartedly. My reservations about PCA's latest contribution to our knowledge of Iberian music will not perhaps trouble others, but they could at least think more carefully about 'programming' next time around.'