The Renaissance Singers, Gabrieli - Magnificat octavi toni

[AsksOneThing]

THANK YOU! I am learning the bottom part in choir 1, and this is SO helpful! The notes are so clear!

[markdavinobenza]

@AsksOneThing Nice, hope you enjoy the piece.

[byrdntallis]

A good and perfectly viable performance.

[markdavinobenza]

@byrdntallis Thanks so much!

[byrdntallis]

@markdavinobenza You're welcome. My comment was a shortened version of what I wrote originally. All this talk of ficta and pronunciation is missing the point. The question should be is it viable - does it work? And the answer is yes. This is great stuff. I sing in Cambridge UK and we don't get hung up on such things. If we want to re-interpret, we do! We just make music. It's amazing how many choirs follow all the rules and sound terribly dull. You don't. Well done.

[markdavinobenza]

@byrdntallis Thanks. Like your name, we are in fact doing a Byrd & Tallis concert here (in Seattle) in October and taking it on tour to the East Coast, very much looking forward to it. I love the music. What groups do you sing for over there?

[byrdntallis]

@markdavinobenza The main group I sing with is a 16 voice choir called Cambridge Voices. It was started 25 years ago by a choral scholar from King's College chapel choir. I'd like to come and hear you but East Coast USA is a long trip for a gig.

[markdavinobenza]

@byrdntallis Ah, very good. I'll have to look it up.

That's no problem, it is quite a long way. We are touring with Peter Phillips from the Tallis Scholars as our guest conductor and countertenor Patrick Craig, maybe you know of them?

[byrdntallis]

@markdavinobenza cambridge(hyphen)voices dot org dot uk. Sounds like it will be a great tour. I've not met Peter, nor Patrick. But I'd be delighted if Peter invited me to sing with the Tallis Scholars. Perhaps you could put a word in for me :) I hope it all goes well.

[markdavinobenza]

@byrdntallis Great thanks, looks like a great group, I'll search youtube for audio clips.

Ha, will do:)

[stevenjackson1958]

Beautifully sung.

[markdavinobenza]

Thanks!

[PerotinusMagister]

Wonderful - out of itnerest, why the decision to sing flat leading notes?

[markdavinobenza]

Flat leading notes? In relationship to what?

[PerotinusMagister]

At a lot of the perfect cadences, you sing a flattened leading note, where the rules of ficta demand sharps...mea DOMINUM, slautari MEO, ecce ENIM, omnes GENERATIONES, implevit BONIS, semini ejus in SAECULA, patri et FILIO, spiritui SANCTO, AMEN?

[markdavinobenza]

Ah. I was thinking you were making an intonational comment.

The edition I was working with did not have that raised 7th ficta business. I generally avoid ficta, as it tends to imply harmonic function that certainly didn't come into music till the common practice era.

[LocusIoannis]

@markdavinobenza How do you explain the treatises from well before the Common Practice era that specifically outline the rules for ficta then? It does not imply harmony, but rather relationships between the fifths. To your ear that is familiar with functional harmony it might, you're attributing the effect to ficta rather than the later music. Besides, the Common Practice had to come from somewhere. They didn't just wake up and say, "alright, let's start throwing sharps in random places!"

[callimacos]

Very touching interpretation......

but I've to say something,the T's and R's proununciation is not exactly correct,but happens very often in england and USA

just like the G in the german ensambles like in the word ''virgine'' 4 example....work on it ^^

[LocusIoannis]

@callimacos You do realize the Germans have an entirely different pronunciation system for Latin, right?

[callimacos]

@LocusIoannis

ther's just one way to pronounciate it correctely,it's the ecclesiatic latin and it has specifical rules

[LocusIoannis]

@callimacos I don't think you understood what I was saying. I was saying your example of the Germans' pronunciation of "Virgine" is a bad one because these German ensembles you're saying are pronouncing it wrong are actually pronouncing it correctly in the pronunciation system they're using. I'm quite familiar with Latin pronunciation systems. I'm actually just beginning a project that will eventually become a comprehensive guide to the major Latin pronunciation systems for singers.

[callimacos]

@LocusIoannis I've to ask you sorry then,but I still think that for catholic rapresentations in music(expecially for italian coposers) ther is just one filological good pronounciacion :)

[geechui]

congratulations, renaissance singers! great balance, clarity, and excellent pitch. pls consider doing palestrina's gloria from missa papae marcelli or sicut cervus. i'm sure you'd produce a fantastic interpretation.

[markdavinobenza]

We will! Thank you for listening. We'll have more up soon so I hope you come back:)!!

[am922518]

Good Interpretation and excellent pitch!. Congratulations!. How is named the choir of the video? I hope you will upload more material as well as this!

I hail from Costa Rica!.

[markdavinobenza]

We are called the Renaissance Singers. Thank you for listening.

[emorygal]

we are working on this in my college choir of 50 members right now and it is challenging but amazing!!

[markdavinobenza]

Cool. Good luck I hope it goes well.

[edcassells]

Markdavin - have you guys done the Byrd "Sing Joyfully Unto God"? Incredible work. Ed

[markdavinobenza]

We have, but we haven't recorded it yet.

[edcassells]

Although not technically written in the Renaissance era, Eric Whitacre's 'Lux Arumque' would be a great (and challenging) piece for your group. Ed

[edcassells]

Mark - you guys would be a natural for the Lotti Crucifixus in 8 voices.

[markdavinobenza]

Ha. We actually did that as the encore for this program. This will be posted soon I hope.

[edcassells]

Great -- because every one here on YouTube already is terrible.

[edcassells]

As one who is intimately knowledgeable of this work, I am very glad to hear this here on YouTube. Your group sings well and in tune on a difficult work to do so, this 12 voice a capella motet. I have two small criticisms, however. I'm not so sure that the full glory of this work can be accomplished by just one voice on a part. I've performed this with 8 voices on each part; split into three distinct choirs - SSAA, SATB, and TTBB and the sound produced was glorious and heavenly.

[edcassells]

Secondly, I question the use of the Mixolydian mode (flat 7 or leading tone as opposed to the traditional leading tone of the Dorian scale). It tends to give it an overall minor sound whereas the sharp 7 gives it a much more pleasing major tonality to listen to. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to more videos of your group.

[markdavinobenza]

Yes, ficta has been quite an issue. There was a time (in the not too far distant past), where editors just started putting in a ton of ficta. I don't like this, because their ficta choices often suggest that the music was composed with the harmonic language of the common practice period - I, V, I. So I'm very conservative with ficta.

Again, thanks for your comments and listening to our group. We have more clips coming. We are posting more clips from this concert. Next one in a week or so.

[markdavinobenza]

Thanks for your comment. Your first criticism is aesthetic. Our group model is based on 12 professional solo-like singers. Clearer lines that way, easier to hear the quality of each voice, and I think its more exciting to hear a small group produce so much sound. Also, much cheaper than paying for 8 people on each part. Does that mean 8 x 12 parts? or 8 x 3 choirs?

[edcassells]

I was in an 80 voice university choir back in the early/mid 70's and this was a work we did twice during my tenure there. Broken down, that works out to about 8x12 parts. One of our most stunning performances of this triple choir work was when we sang in an old auditorium with a horseshoe shaped balcony. We had the mixed choir on stage, the men's choir on one side of the balcony and the womens' choir on the other side. The audience on the floor level just got 'bathed' in the harmonies.

[markdavinobenza]

Wow, thats a lot of voices. We did do this in triple choir form, just all in one line.

[cogidubnus1953]

I wasn't - just saying I'd like to have been!

[markdavinobenza]

Ah got it!! :)

[cogidubnus1953]

As a Brit, (led here from Thomas Tallis), I can't say I've ever envied you left-ponders much...particularly the denizens of poor old Seattle...but to have been there in May this year I'd have given an awful lot...are you local or touring? I'm sure there is a great future for fantastic voices like these

[markdavinobenza]

Thanks so much for listening! We are a local group, but are trying to get some touring going. Why were you in Seattle?