This evening I should have been singing a gorgeous programme of Palestrina and Mundy in Ushaw chapel with Durham Singers. I haven’t chosen any music from that programme but instead, remembering happier times, here’s one of my favourite pieces of choral music, and one that I adore singing, Palestrina’s 8-part motet Laudate Pueri.
Rather aptly for a night where I’m silenced, I’m afraid I don’t actually have a proper link to share. This piece doesn’t seem to have been recorded much, and the video version on You Tube are decidedly limp and don’t do it justice. There is a magnificent recording by Westminster Cathedral under James O’Donnell with a really muscular sound, that gathers more and more power as the motet builds to its climax. I went on holiday to Rome while I was first learning this piece and for me, the very solid and austere architecture of some of the churches seemed to match the feel of this piece.
You can hear the opening of it here on Hyperion’s website, or if you download it, I can assure you it’s 95p well spent.
Palestrina – Laudate Pueri
(And if you’re wondering where you’ve heard this before –I have it as my ringtone)
