{"product_id":"kings-singers-how-fair-thou-art","title":"King's Singers- How Fair Thou Art (CD)","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow Fair Thou Art - Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525\/6-1594) This selection from the Palestrina's settings of The Song of Songs is interspersed by four of the composer's Marian antiphons. Once you get used to the close recording and The King's Singers' distinctive 'barbershop' sound, these performances are highly enjoyable, benefiting from the singers' diffident and yet expressive approach. Just occasionally the very close recording shows the alto voices at a disadvantage, but the singing is generally of a very high quality and the readings of these beautiful pieces is intelligent and sensuous. I take a little bit of exception to the title with it's presumably intentionally punning use of the phrase 'Biblical Passions'-the Passion has a very specific religious meaning, and it's extension to embrace the erotic underpinning of The Song of Songs makes something of a nonsense of this. It is not entirely clear what context Palestrina's Song of Songs settings were intended for, but if-as seems likely-they were for private domestic consumption, then I am sure that the earliest performances would have sounded very much like the present recording. It is interesting to hear the Marian antiphons in the same context-almost certainly written for liturgical choral presentation, they work equally well sung by reduced forces and in a smaller acoustic. Indeed without listening closely to the texts, it would be difficult to differentiate the two repertoires from one another. Early Music Review\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cdiv data-bt-autogen\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTracklist:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlma Redemptoris Mater\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eQuam Pulchri Sunt Gressus Tui\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePulchrae Sunt Genae Tuae\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTota Pulchra Es Anima Mea\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNigra Sum, Sed Formosa\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRegina Caeli\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTrahe Me, Post Te\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVeni, Veni Delicte Mi\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSurge, Propera Amica Mea\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDescendi In Hortum Meum\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAve Regina Caelorum\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSicut Lilium Inter Spinas I\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOsculetur Me\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEcce Tu Pulcher Es\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSicut Lilium Inter Spinas II\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSalve Regina\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Alliance - BT","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46984760164573,"sku":"635212045022","price":75.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0551\/1056\/6043\/files\/3328884.jpg?v=1762927990","url":"https:\/\/shop.darksiderecords.com\/ar-ae\/products\/kings-singers-how-fair-thou-art","provider":"Darkside Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}