With each new CD, the Portland-based women’s polyphony group In Mulieribus, specializing in early music and drop-dead gorgeous presentations of liturgical and non-liturgical religious music, just seems to get better and better.
Their latest offering, A December Feast, came as a shock to me even given my high expectations. It opens with O regem coeli by Tomas de la Victoria, a piece that is usually sung by mixed voices or all-male voices but takes on a completely new meaning and significance as sung by high voices in four parts. The integration of the voices strikes me as flawless, and the natural expression causes this perfect sound to take flight. The result is truly breath taking. It causes one to wish that this group would record vastly more along these lines to illustrate the merit of women’s voices in liturgical polyphony and also to demonstrate just how flexible the choral compositions of the Renaissance really are.
Along the same lines, we have presentations of compositions by Palestrina, along with modern examples of arrangements of medieval music alongside reconstructions of medieval organum with texts from the Graduale Romanum. The version of Sederunt principes by Perotin is fully 13 minutes long and epic in its tonal and dramatic sweep – absolutely unforgettable and brilliant.
The theme here is of course December and its feasts, from Immaculate Conception through Christmas. I’m not usually on the look out for seasonal CDs but it seems like every year brings one that is so surprising, so interesting, so gorgeous, that is worth recommending as something to have and hold. This is certainly my suggestion for this year. This music brings both new meaning and new sounds to the entire season.
In Mulieribus has always struck me as one of this nation’s great treasures, a group that has had no splashy commercial success – it is made up of professional and semi-professional singers in one of the most musical cities in the country – but deserves adulation and recognition from anyone who is serious about both high art and great religious music. Everything this group has done is worth hearing but with this new album, the group has surpassed its previous heights and given us something truly glorious. You can preview some songs and purchase the entire package here.