This is a magnificent recording from a little-known area of the polyphonic repertory that enjoyed a late flowering in the Spanish colonies of the New World, no more so than in Mexico where composers such as Franco, Padilla, Lopez Capillas and Salazar held posts in the newly-constructed cathedrals. Of these, only Lopez Capillas was actually born in Mexico (of Spanish parents); the others, like practically all other aspects of the musico-liturgical practice adopted there, were 'imported'. Not surprisingly, then, the musical idiom is very much that of late sixteenth-century Spain in the case of Hernando Franco (the earliest of the composers represented here) and of Padilla's more 'traditional' Lamentations. Here the music is sung a cappella with the sustained singing style so characteristic of the Westminster Cathedral Choir carrying with tremendous conviction its dramatic grandeur as, in common with almost all Hispanic sacred polyphony of the sixteenth century, it relies more on overall sonorous effect than contrapuntal ingenuity.
Padilla's double-choir works, however, are much more in tune with the early baroque and these are fittingly accompanied by instruments: the organ, dulcian and harp forming the core of the instrumental forces as employed in Mexican cathedrals. Particularly in the two settings for None, Padilla displays his mastery of the polychoral idiom of Gabrieli with lively, rhythmic phrases dovetailing between the choirs and buildings to massive climaxes. His Salve regina is altogether an unusual work, highly expressive and given a justly contemplative performance here.
By contrast, Lopez Capillas and Salazar are simpler and more direct, though they still observe that quintessentially Hispanic preference for rich sonorities displayed over a slow-moving harmonic structure. It is difficult to imagine a choir that could perform these works with more care and understanding than that of Westminster Cathedral. Only their ability to sustain the long, sometimes meandering vocal lines in all voices (but immediately apparent in the training of the boys in the singing of chant in Franco's Salve regina) can build up the necessary intensity of sound to enhance the music's simple grandeur. Near-perfect balance between the voices allows the suspensions to direct and colour the texture (notably in Padilla's Lamentations) as they should. Pure Mexican gold.'