CD Review of Slavic Holiday
By Jerome F. Weber
Goldberg Magazine, SPAIN
This disc offers an unusual collection of mostly anonymous sacred music from medieval Bohemia and Poland. A motet, Beata es virgo, by Nikolaj Zielenski, the 16th-17th-century Polish composer, is one of the few pieces attributed to a known composer. Some of these pieces have been recorded before (by Josef Veselka and the Hilliard Ensemble, among others), but the program is generally unfamiliar. The only instrument used is a vielle. The program includes both liturgical chants in Latin and cantiones in the vernacular languages. Music of local appeal often focused on the saints, so St. Adalbert and St. Wenceslaus are included here. The major feasts always attracted interest everywhere, so a group of Christmas pieces is heard.
The ensemble of a dozen mixed voices was formed in 1996 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The young voices are remarkably effective in various combinations. The acoustics of St. Bernard's Church surround the voices with a warm ambiance. This group deserves to be known beyond the narrow boundaries of its home.