Missa Corona Spinea - Taverner/Tallis Scholars

[jean]

That's a noun there, not an adjective!

Does anyone remember the old Supraphon recording of Corona Spinea? I think it was the Oxford Camerata or something similar.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... good Lord!
http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...ge=2&term=lush

Presumably a corruption of "louche" is involved - 'tho' I suspect that the Gavin & Stacey usage is closer to what l_c_b had in mind?

[Vox Humana]

When I was young it was just a contraction of luscious.

[vinteuil]

That's a noun there, not an adjective!

... the first two lemmata* are nouns - the others are adjectives.

[ * I've been longing to use that word for at least the last forty years. So sad... ]

[jean]

Nothing inappropriate about the adjectival senses, though.

[Vox Humana]

That's a noun there, not an adjective!

Does anyone remember the old Supraphon recording of Corona Spinea? I think it was the Oxford Camerata or something similar.

That's the one I referred to above (Schola Cantorum/John Byrt). I missed the original Supraphon pressing. It was reissued on the Saga label, which was notorious for a production quality that was as low as its prices.

[jean]

Missed that reference, sorry. I had the original when it first came out, and the quality was pretty good as I remember.

[Vox Humana]

Missed that reference, sorry. I had the original when it first came out, and the quality was pretty good as I remember.

Yes, I believe Supraphon LPs were OK. The performance has a lot of energy and commitment and I soon had to replace my Saga LP, having worn out my first copy by continuous playing.

[ardcarp]

I don't know if you've been around teenagers lately, Jean, but everything is lush....unless it isn't lush if you see what I mean.

[Miles Coverdale]

It may be worth pointing out that composers of Taverner's period only had a very small number of 'key signatures' available to them; basically, no signature, one flat or, rather less commonly, two flats. Also, one of the reasons that some pieces appear at unusually high or low notated pitches is that they may be based on a plainsong cantus firmus, which would almost always be writen out at the same pitch at which it appeared in service books. There are occasional exceptions to this, but very few.

I've just listened to a couple of YouTube excerpts of St Mary's, Edinburgh singing the Taverner. Blimey, that's fast. It sounds like they're desperate to get to the end. By way of comparison, the Tallis Scholars' recording of the Gloria is fully 50% longer (9 minutes versus 13 and a half).

[ardcarp]

It's great that Corona Spinea has spawned 9 pages (and counting). May I say how gratifying it has been that in this sometimes fraught area...or should I say arena.... of The Forum, discussion has continued in a generally amiable fashion? (So far )

[light_calibre_baritone]

Presumably a corruption of "louche" is involved - 'tho' I suspect that the Gavin & Stacey usage is closer to what l_c_b had in mind?

Yeah, kinda... Other synonyms are available.

[Pulcinella]

David Fallows, in November's Gramophone (which arrived in this morning's post), is not persuaded by the high pitch in The Tallis Scholars recording, and prefers the semitone lower that The Sixteen adopt.
He gives an interesting (well, to me) timing comparison: The Sixteen take just over 40 minutes, St Mary's Edinburgh 33 (in the process losing detail for him), and The Tallis Scholars almost 48 minutes.
But he calls it a gorgeous recording. Nothing about it being lush!