The album is conceived as a "musical book of the liturgy of the Hours," a collection of private meditations highlighting key events in Mary's life.
Performer Biography
The Gabrieli Consort are associated artists of the Wratislavia Cantans festival in Wroclaw, Poland, where they develop choral projects with the city's acclaimed choir.
Compositional Technique
Jean Mouton's Nesciens Mater, meditating on Jesus' birth, features a complex quadruple canon across its eight parts, reflecting Mary's perfection.
Album & Artwork
The program is structured into five sections: an invocation to Mary, followed by sections treating the Annunciation, Nativity, Crucifixion, and Mary's role as Intercessor.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Paul McCreesh, the conductor, states that the greatest Marian art is caught in the tension between the human and the divine, a mystery this collection seeks to illuminate.
Compositional Technique
John Tavener's A Hymn to the Mother of God features outer sections where the choir is disposed as two gigantic sound masses resounding against each other in strict canon.
Historical Context
The importance of Mary as an object of devotion increased steadily, with a sudden blossoming of her cult in the 11th and 12th centuries.
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