A Star in the East Medieval Hungarian Christmas Music
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Anonymous
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 12/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 68
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: HMU90 7139
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Hungarian Christmas Plainchant, Movement: Christmas Eve Office Antiphon: O mundi domina |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Plainchant, Movement: Christmas Mass Propers: |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Plainchant, Movement: Hymn: Az idvözitöt régenten |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Plainchant, Movement: Christmas First Vespers Antiphon: Gaude et letare |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Plainchant, Movement: Te Deum: Isten, téged |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Plainchant, Movement: Advent Hymn: Mi Atyánk Atya Isten |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Plainchant, Movement: Christmas Eve Vespers antiphon: Ave spes nostra |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Polyphony, Movement: Alleluia: Fuit virgo |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Polyphony, Movement: Sanctus: Omnes unanimiter |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Polyphony, Movement: Lectio: Primo tempore alleviata |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Polyphony, Movement: Lectio: Salvator noster |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Polyphony, Movement: Evangelium: Liber generationis |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Polyphony, Movement: Song: Novum decus oritur |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Polyphony, Movement: Song: Novus annus adiit |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
| Hungarian Christmas Polyphony, Movement: Motet: Exordium quadruplate/Nate dei/Concrepet infm caro |
Anonymous, Composer
Anon 4 Anonymous, Composer |
Author: mberry
This latest disc from Anonymous 4 is a selection of liturgical and paraliturgical Christmas pieces, taken from medieval Hungarian sources. Most are monophonic, but there is a modest sprinkling of simple polyphonic pieces for two, three and four voices. The charm of the performance lies in its unpretentious, almost childlike simplicity – suggested, maybe, by the delightful extracts from the Christmas story as quoted in the notes. These extracts come from the “Peasants’ Bible” – Paraszbiblia: Magyar Nepi Biblikus Tortenetek – which contains Bible stories retold in simple language, with homely, imaginative details and an atmosphere of fairy-tale.
The classic liturgical pieces, which include the Introit Dum medium silentium, the splendid Gradual Speciosa forma, and others, are heard in a version which tends to use the pentatonic scale, thus avoiding both B natural and B flat. The sung readings are impressive with their polyphonic settings. I enjoyed the rich Genealogy (Liber generationis) with its beautifully constructed and compelling melody. Some of the vernacular pieces, as well as the Latin song for New Year’s Day, have a regular ternary rhythm. The Hungarian Te Deum (which appeared in an earlier recording by the Schola Hungarica on Quintana) offers an interesting alternative for the concluding verses: it simply transposes the original theme up a fourth.
The 110-page booklet, lavishly produced with both colour and black-and-white illustrations, is a marvellous little tool and a joy to handle. This CD should be high on every shopping list of Christmas presents for friends.'
The classic liturgical pieces, which include the Introit Dum medium silentium, the splendid Gradual Speciosa forma, and others, are heard in a version which tends to use the pentatonic scale, thus avoiding both B natural and B flat. The sung readings are impressive with their polyphonic settings. I enjoyed the rich Genealogy (Liber generationis) with its beautifully constructed and compelling melody. Some of the vernacular pieces, as well as the Latin song for New Year’s Day, have a regular ternary rhythm. The Hungarian Te Deum (which appeared in an earlier recording by the Schola Hungarica on Quintana) offers an interesting alternative for the concluding verses: it simply transposes the original theme up a fourth.
The 110-page booklet, lavishly produced with both colour and black-and-white illustrations, is a marvellous little tool and a joy to handle. This CD should be high on every shopping list of Christmas presents for friends.'
A Star in the East Medieval Hungarian Christmas Music
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