Choc de Classica, March 2012
Tune thy Musicke to thy Hart
For its sixth recording on Harmonia Mundi, Stile Antico is joined by the outstanding viol consort Fretwork to explore the wealth of sacred music written not for church performance, but for the court and for the home. Sung entirely in English, this fascinating programme spans two centuries and a vast range of styles, from the austerity of Browne and Taverner to the harmonic daring of Tomkins and Ramsey, and from the smallest works by Campion and Dowland to the great verse anthems of Gibbons and Amner.
We regret that this recording is no longer available as a physical purchase. It can still be purchased as a download from popular online retailers.
Recorded: February, 2011
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Format: Hybrid SACD
Catalogue Number: HMU807554
The beautifully blended voices of Stile Antico give this music with all the intensity that its emotional content merits. But then every work here fairly burns itself on the heart.
Sunday Times
Gramophone Editor’s Choice, May 2012
The beautifully blended voices of Stile Antico give this music with all the intensity that its emotional content merits. But then every work here fairly burns itself on the heart.
Stephen Pettitt, The Sunday Times (12 February, 2012)
Alongside the more grandiose music composed for court and cathedral, 16th century England was a fertile ground for the creation of music for private worship services. This richly appealing new release by the excellent vocal ensemble Stile Antico offers a tour… All of the music is sung with clarity and precision.
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle (19 February, 2012)
You will be floored by the flat-out beauty of the music and performances. Nobody sings this music better than Stile Antico and anyone who has even a passing interest in vocal music should get this and their other albums. Tune thy Musicke to thy Hart is an early front runner for best of the year and my favorite Stile Antico album.
Craig Zeichner, Ariama (22 February, 2012)
A varied treasure trove of seldom heard but extremely affecting music, nicely sung and spliced together with some darkly-glittering string In nomines played by Fretwork.
Anthony Pryer, BBC Music Magazine (March 2012)
We are enjoined by this fine recital to bring nuance to distinctions between sacred and secular… Stile Antico’s sleek tuning and supple attention to words, and the studio recording, intimate but not claustrophobic, bring a carefully plotted span of sacred styles into our listening rooms with rare success.
Peter Quantrill, Gramophone
The revelation is the little-known John Amner, whose “A stranger here” reaches a climax of rare dissonant intensity, powerfully sung. Another triumph for the superb Stile Antico ensemble and Fretwork.
Nicholas Kenyon, The Observer (29 January, 2012)
Stile Antico is young in age and accordingly fresh in its approach to programming, a trend exemplified in this latest release of works from sixteenth- and seventeenth- century England… try to remain unmoved by their sheer beauty and fullness of expression.
David Vernier, Listen Magazine (April 2012)
Collectors who have acquired previous releases by Stile Antico won’t be at all surprised to learn that the standard of performance is extremely high… This beautifully packaged and carefully documented release offers a most interesting perspective on the sacred vocal music of the period.
John Quinn, MusicWeb International (April 2012)
Another winner from the 12-voice ensemble Stile Antico. The performing style is beautifully judged, unlaboured in terms of emphasis, but full of incident. Rhetorical details, clashes of dissonance, scrunchy false relations are astutely observed and all make their mark without distortion or exaggeration.
Michael Dervan, Irish Times (20 April, 2012)
The performances are wonderfully fresh, revelling in the harmonic false relations and affectively attentive to the import of the words.
Geoffrey Norris, The Daily Telegraph (18 February 2012)
- Tomkins: O Praise the Lord
- Amner: O ye little flock
- Taverner: In Nomine
- Ramsey: How are the mighty fall'n
- Tallis: Purge me, O Lord
- Amner: A stranger here
- Parsons: In nomine a 4 no.1
- Browne: Jesu, mercy, how may this be
- Parsons: In nomine a 4 no.2
- Croce: From profound centre of my heart
- Dowland: I shame at my unworthiness
- Campion: Never weather-beaten sail
- Byrd: Why do I use my paper, ink and pen
- Tomkins: When David heard
- Gibbons: See, see, the Word is incarnate