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Reviewer: Rob
Barnett
Here are 21 short pieces from the Codex Calixtinus.
The home of the late 12th century Codex is the Cathedral of Santiago de
Compostela on the Atlantic seaboard of North-West Spain. One of three great
centres of pilgrimage, this place occupies a crucial position in the
European Middle Ages. The Codex comprises plainchant much of which is for
the Vigil and Feast of St James. This devotional music is heard in editions
prepared by these singers and is sung with the usual pristine vocal purity
associated with The Anonymous 4 (Ruth Cunningham, Marsha Genensky, Susan
Hellauer, Johanna Maria Rose). Notable among these pieces is the melisma of
the Benedicamus Trope and Ad sepulchrum (trs. 5 and 7). The frictionless
ascents demanded in Cunctipotens genitor are confidently accomplished by a
quartet of voices that always sounds as if it is an ensemble of at least
four times that size. A fresh tone of innocence appears in Gratulantes
celebremus festante (tr. 16) - very enjoyable too, complete with trilled
delays and echoes. A special serenity radiates from Portum in ultimo (tr.
19).
The liner notes are by Susan Hellauer, one of the
Anonymous 4.
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