Early Choral Music at Trinity College, Cambridge

Sony 88985323472 (6-disc box set) (2016 compilation)
Early Choral Music at Trinity College, Cambridge
(Disc 1) Lasso : Regina Coeli and seasonal motets
(Disc 2) Victoria: Tenebrae Responses; Lamentations
(Disc 3) Sweelinck: Psalms of David
(Disc 4) Monteverdi: Dixit Dominus and other motets
(Disc 5) M. Praetorius: In Dulci Jubilo: Chorale Motets for Advent, Christmas etc.
(Disc 6) Schütz: Psalms of David
Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge
His Majestys Sagbuts and Cornetts (Schütz)
Richard Marlow 


Recorded for the Conifer label between 1990 and 1995, these stylish, coolly majestic mixed-choir performances of late-Renaissance and early-Baroque liturgical music are brought together for the first time under a single cover at an irresistibly reasonable price. Yet another entry in Sony's on-going Masters series of dedicated box sets, this six-disc compilation features the imprint's typically sturdy-albeit-bare-boned packaging, though a slim booklet is included with detailed contents and rosters of performers. Each disc comes in its own discrete cardboard sleeve with general contents and recording dates listed on the back. Recorded sound is excellent throughout, capturing the acoustic vibrancy of Cambridge's Trinity Chapel with a full, but limpidly naturalistic resonance. The readings themselves are lively and imaginative, with a rhythmic engagement and coloristic variety all-too often missing in essays of this repertory.

The Victoria Tenebrae Responsories and Lamentations were first issued in 1990 (Conifer 51188) and subsequently re-issued on the ultra-cheap Musical Concepts (Alto) label (ALC 1269 (2014)). Other discs were originally issued as follows: Schütz Psalms of David (Conifer 16072 (1991)); Sweelinck Psalms of David (Conifer 16850 (1992)); Monteverdi Dixit Dominus and other motets (Conifer 18991 (1992)); Lasso Regina Coeli and seasonal motets (Conifer 51230 (1994)); Praetorius In Dulci Jubilo: Chorale Motets for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany (Conifer 51256 (1995))

Highly recommended!