Overview

Arguably the greatest composer of liturgical music of all time, Palestrina was a towering figure in Renaissance polyphony. On this disc The Sixteen explores some of the outstanding music he wrote for the Assumption including his Mass and Motet Assumpa est Maria. Without doubt, Palestrina was the great master of all Papal composers and his spiritual craft and harmonic vitality fulfilled the needs of the Vatican. The Ave Maria and Salve Regina, and the Offertory, also entitled Assumpa est Maria, are glorious examples of such work and can be heard in all their splendour on this recording.

One of the aims of the series, Christophers says, is to achieve a 'real ebb and flow' in music, which can 'sound all too perfect and occasionally academic'. There's certainly no hint of that here; the performances are wonderfully alive to both the verbal and the musical meaning, the sound of the 18 voices of the Sixteen consistently warm and transparent. 
The Guardian 

An album in praise of the Virgin Mary is incongruously saucy but composed of wonderful tracks... In a resonant acoustic The Sixteen sound sumptuous: the lines clearly etched but warm-toned, the pacing spacious but not stodgy, the dynamic range restrained but effective.
The Times ★★★★  

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