Conductor David Allinson on unearthing new treasures from the Spanish Golden Age

The brand new version we sang was created by the sensible musicologist Jorge Martín, who has reconstructed the piece from these manuscript sources. Music that was clearly not by Vivanco has been eliminated. Elsewhere, the transmission and use of Vivanco’s music in numerous Spanish cathedrals has created parallel variations of some sections, and somewhat than making an attempt to resolve or suppress the disparities, we embraced them. Thus we included two variations of the Kyrie and the Sanctus the place the manuscripts differ. Which ones is closest to the music Vivanco initially conceived might by no means be identified.

Once we carried out this Requiem in June final yr, a twenty first century viewers was listening to parts of this music—and all that’s unknowable about its historical past—for the primary time.

A primary recording

There’s an particularly wealthy seam of emotionally intense sacred music from Renaissance Spain. Vivanco’s Requiem belongs to a practice of Iberian Requiem settings by Morales, Guerrero, Cardoso, Duarte Lobo and lots of others – most famously Victoria. These have all been recorded, typically many instances over, however Vivanco’s was lacking from that canon.

Till now. Final July, when most individuals have been sensibly avoiding the heatwave, we spent three intense days recording the Missa professional defunctis in central London, along with motets by Vivanco and his Spanish contemporaries.

Vivanco’s music is great: elegant, fluid and luminous. He stands on the finish of an incredible custom of Spanish Golden Age polyphony, however his intensely expressive use of concord and small motivic particulars appear to level in the direction of a extra baroque type.

The choir for which Vivanco initially conceived this music is more likely to have been all male. As we’re a contemporary, mixed-voice choir we sing the piece at a pitch that works for our forces. Our aesthetic strategy was to keep away from a very serene or indifferent type of singing, however as a substitute to carry to the work a way of narrative and human connection; this music is dramatic, consoling and humane.

One of many joys of working within the area of Renaissance music is that new discoveries are all the time doable. Our sense of what’s canonical is commonly formed by arbitrary historic forces, or by what earlier generations discovered helpful to incorporate in anthologies for choirs. Nevertheless it’s all the time altering, as a result of there’s nonetheless nice music on the market that we haven’t heard.

Vivanco’s Requiem has come a protracted technique to be right here. It was written over 4 hundred years in the past to wish for the souls of the departed throughout Mass; copied by hand and brought to totally different cities in Spain; used, tailored, after which uncared for, forgotten and unheard for hundreds of years. 

Now although, you possibly can hear it anyplace on this planet in a few clicks. We hope listeners will get pleasure from this outstanding music as a lot as we did.