Whatever possesses humans to refine the art of singing to such a level of sonorous purity and expressive simplicity as exemplified by the three women of Trio Mediaeval? This cannot be explained by some biological evolutionary process or higher-level survival mechanism, but there is no question that the effect of hearing such music, so unadorned, lucid, and sincere, touches something special and mysterious in the humans fortunate enough to be within listening range. We’ve experienced this sort of miraculous “sound effect” in the vocal world before–from small ensembles such as the Hilliard Ensemble and Anonymous 4–but it is rare and assuredly (clearly evidenced by this trio’s concert performances) not a trick of the recording studio.
This new release at its core presents a possible setting of a Ladymass–“a votive Mass to the Virgin Mary”–with movements of polyphony and other plainchant-based music assembled from the 13th- and 14th-century manuscript fragments residing at Worcester Cathedral in western England. As sung by Anna Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fuglseth, and Torunn Østrem Ossum, the ancient polyphony floats, weaves, soars, and descends, praying, praising, meditating, uplifting. The unison plainchant Agnus Dei is accompanied–to eerie, other-worldly effect–by melody chimes; a sung open-fifth drone supports solo voice in the Communion plainchant Alma Dei genitrix.
Because there is no Credo that survives among the Worcester fragments, composer Gavin Bryars was asked to supply one that would “maintain the same ethos and be accepted” as part of the Ladymass “…without any sense of incongruity.” Bryars has done this sort of thing before, for this same group, and his setting, while it contains some obvious “modern” (harmonic) elements, retains the chant foundation of the original form and successfully joins the early movements into a totally congruous whole. Bryars also added a new Benedicamus Domino (“Let us bless the Lord”), which closes the Mass and the recording; it’s a lovely little gem, lasting slightly more than a minute, whose harmonies perfectly exploit the singers’ voices at their most radiant and vibrant. The sound, from the ideal acoustics of Propstei St. Gerold, a Benedictine monastery in Austria where Trio Mediaeval has recorded previously, captures the beauty and truth of these performances as well as we can imagine. Highly recommended. [4/15/2011]
