Cristobal de Morales: Missa Si bona suscepimus / Tallis Scholars
As of autumn 2000, it has been two years since the last newTallis  Scholarsrelease. Do they still have the same high, clear sound and  immaculate execution that made them famous? This recording isn't  state-of-the-year-2000 Tallis Scholars (no recording date is given, though it has been in  the can for several years), but for better and worse, Peter Phillips and his  singers sound just like they always have. Their performance is impeccably  tuned, perfectly blended, atmospheric, and phrased and delivered in just the  same smooth, suavePalestrina-esque  style they use whatever the music they sing. Happily, that style suits  the music of Cristóbal de Morales (who was slightly older  thanVictoriaand every bit his equal)  very nicely. TheMissa Si bona suscepimusis a real beauty, and we're  very fortunate that Phillips has revived it. Morales's mass setting is sweeter  and more consoling than its model, a gently melancholy motet by Philippe  Verdelot, thanks to the extra treble part Morales added to the motet's five  voices. If there's a serous flaw in the Tallis Scholars' interpretation, it's  that the tempos are just slow enough that one can be lulled into a lovely haze  and lose track of the musical source material and the wonderful changes  Morales rings on it. The disc closes with a stately performance of whatwasMorales's most famous motet:Andreas Christi famulus,  composed for the meeting of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1546 (attended  by the kings Henry VIII, François I, and Charles V), turns out to have  been composed by Charles's chapel master, Thomas Crecquillon. It is a  magnificent work in any case, and it rounds out a most welcome  disc.--Matthew Westphal