Canticum Canticorum

Canticum Canticorum
Cantus Vocal Ensemble
Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart
(Carus 83.123)

The Song of Songs, a collection of ancient love poems from the Old Testament, was a favorite theme of early composers because they could juxtapose expressions of both the sacred and sensual with freedom. Performed by the Cantos Vocal Ensemble under Johannes Rahe, Canticum Canticorum offers a sampling of these settings, taking the listener through nearly 400 years of musical history.

Although most of the music was written for the Church (which, until recently, interpreted the erotic nature of the poems as a metaphor of the spiritual union between the soul and God), listeners will be struck by the florid nature of several of the arrangements, in which the composers adapted the developments in renaissance polyphony. The effect is enhanced by Rahe's practice of arranging his singers in "mixed placing," with all the voice types intermingled rather than set apart in groups. While such a formation places added demands on individual performers, it results in a wonderfully dense, unified sound.

The pieces are presented staggered rather than in chronological order, often following one composer's interpretation of the same reading with another. In fact, a variety of settings is represented here, from the Gregorian chant "Quia amore langueo" to John Dunstable's 14th-century motet "Quam pulchraes."

Yet if there is a drawback to a recording that focuses on a single performance style, it is that the music can sound repetitious after more than an hour of playing time. This is especially true of Canticum Canticorum, and while this CD will appeal to scholars and lovers of early vocal music, it may prove less interesting to the general listener. Nevertheless, this reissued recording presents a unique opportunity to explore the heart of renaissance music.

— Mary Dalton