This recent recording from the Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge presents both chant and polyphony for the feast of Pentecost at the Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny and for three Archbishops of Canterbury who sought refuge there during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Most famous of these is Thomas a Becket (1118–70), but perhaps the most important to that institution was Edmund of Abingdon (c. 1175–1240) who became its patron saint.
The recording was made in Pontigny—which is both its strength and its weakness. As Mary Berry, director of the group and responsible for the imaginative programming, says in her notes: ''The Abbey church is the largest Cistercian church surviving in France today. The imposing height and length of the building give it a remarkably warm and resonant acoustic, well-suited to chant.'' This resonance is uninhibitedly recaptured in this recording, with a good six-second reverberation, and this does indeed make the chant sound very atmospheric and 'authentic': the polyphony is perhaps less well-served.
I could imagine that this recording would be ideal for relay—as so many continental cathedrals now do—as a sound backdrop to the architectural splendour, being at once rich and austere. The singing, too, has an 'authentic' quality about it: the chant is presented in an unfussy, direct way that is very appealing, and a very laudable concern with reflecting the mood of the text is consistently apparent: Clangat pastor in tuba cornea, for example, really does sound jubilant. The Schola Gregoriana's singing of the polyphony is less secure in terms of intonation, though no less committed, and while these performances might be considered less 'polished' or 'refined', they do remind the listener very powerfully of the need to sing polyphony in such an acoustic very slowly if some clarity of texture and structure is to be retained.
So, an interesting recording, with much to recommend it: MB proves as persuasive an advocate of plainchant on disc as she has been for many years on paper.'