Old Roman Chant - Byzantine Period
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 10/1986
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Catalogue Number: HMC90 1218

Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 10/1986
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Catalogue Number: HMC40 1218

Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 10/1986
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Catalogue Number: HMC1218

Author: mberry
The pieces chosen cover the liturgy for Easter Day and include three additional alleluias with Greek texts. It is fascinating to compare these chants with their later Gregorian counterparts: the structure is basically the same, but the ornamentation is entirely different. In the recording every ornament is said to be implicit in the notation and often relates as well to presentday practice in the Byzantine tradition. How much this practice may itself have been modified over the centuries is, of course, the essential question. The introduction of the
Lysourgos Angelopoulos sings with great assurance and polish, not only the three pieces with Greek texts, but also the
The extraordinary clarity of the CD, which also reveals the depth and quality of the acoustics of Saint-Michelde Provence, would certainly tempt me to buy that version of the recording, rather than the LP, when investing in such an important record as this.'
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