O Magnum Mysterium.(Review)(Brief Article)

O Magnum Mysterium. Robert Shaw, Robert Shaw Festival Singers and the Robert Chamber Singers. Telarc CD-80531.

The past few years have seen Telarc repackaging quite a lot of their old material and reissuing it under a new name. In the case of "O Magnum Mysterium," recorded by the Robert Shaw singers between 1989 and 1997, the first four items have never been released before. My only regret about this otherwise splendidly sung collection of items for a cappella voice is that it lasts a scant fifty-six minutes. I recall years ago Telarc promising never to produce a disc that didn't have at least an hour of music on it. Oh, well, what we do have is plenty good enough.

The dozen pieces on the program represent the spiritual side of a number of musicians from various eras and various parts of the world. It begins with four numbers by Renaissance composers. Thomas Tallis (1505-1585), "If You Love Me" and "A New Commandment," and Tomas Luis de Victoria (1549-1611), "O Vos omnes" and the first of three settings for "O Magnum Mysterium." These and most of the rest of the works on the album are sung by Robert Shaw's Festival ...