Gothic Voices, founded in 1980 by medievalist Christopher Page, has produced over twenty-five award-winning albums, including 'A feather on the breath of God' by Hildegard of Bingen, one of the best-selling pre-classical recordings.
Interpretation
The album conceptually transfers a modern carol evening, with its attention to the past, to the mid-fifteenth century, combining 'new music' of the time with compositions up to 300 years older.
Album & Artwork
The album's cover image is 'Mary with Child and Angels' from the Wilton Diptych, housed in the National Gallery, London.
Compositional Technique
Two pieces on the album, Cooke's 'Ave regina caelorum' and Power's 'Sanctus', are examples of English discant, a style where individual parts move in contrary motion and one voice uses a cantus firmus from a Gregorian chant.
Compositional Technique
The most frequent compositional genre in this collection is the fifteenth-century carol, a strophic, spiritual song with a refrain or burden between verses, often in English or Latin.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in Boxgrove Priory, Chichester, UK, between October 27-30, 2018.
Compositional Technique
The earliest genre featured is organum, where a second or third voice is added to a Gregorian chant, with voices generally moving in parallel fifths or octaves, as heard in 'In natali novi regis'.
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