It’s hard to say what is most exciting about Motecta Trium Vocum:
1) the wonderful music by Kevin Allen, music that is new, beautiful, and easy to sing for liturgy,
2) the practice videos that have been produced to go along with this new polyphony,
3) the appearance of Watershed as a new publisher of Catholic sacred music,
4) the method of distribution, which gives away vast amounts of this wonderful music online, both in the form of tutorials and actual sheet music, or
5) the emergence of the great Kevin Allen from obscure genius to public figure.
Watershed is smashing models with an eye to progress, and pointing the way to the future. The publication of this collection of motets is truly a watershed.
MOTECTA TRIUM VOCUM • Kevin Allen & Matthew J. Curtis from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.
Easy Polyphony by Kevin Allen (with 56 free practice videos) from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.
very nice singing…hopefully the range of the pieces is within reason….
I haven't dug deeply into this (at work, and distracted by "10 worst") but what I have seen and heard is positively amazing. It's not "just" Caecilianism, though it is that; it's very skillful use of the old language. The 3-voice texture, besides making it available for smaller choirs, almost necessitates having all voices usually active, which eliminates at a stroke one major pitfall of Renaissance polyphony: getting the entrances right. This is music I can get excited about, unlike most that attempts the same things. Thank you, Mr. Allen.