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O Beata Virgo Maria [Review]
luminatus / Hannah Littleton (soprano) / David Bray - Convivium CR090
Judith Markwith of RCSM Church Music Quarterly
June 4, 2024
We start in the late 16th century with the comparatively well-known Luca Marenzio (motet Iste Sanctus pro lege) and Guerrero (Missa Iste Sanctus) and the lesser-known Tiburtio Massaino (a six-section setting of O beata virgo Maria), but then jump to the 21st century, with works by Melissa Dunphy, Kerensa Briggs and Cecilia McDowall. The singing is accurate, if a little cautious, occasionally tentative and, dare one say, with an Anglican feel. If you like your Italian or Spanish Renaissance music performed with a little more Mediterranean flair, then the first part of the programme is probably not ideal for you.
But all is redeemed by the final 30 minutes of new music. Australian-American Melissa Dunphy's name is not well known in the UK, but it should be. There is a timeless feeling about her Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, where passages of beautiful repose swell into more passionate word painting. Kerensa Briggs, born in Truro where her father was then cathedral organist, is currently composer-in-residence with the Saint Louis Chamber Chorus in the USA. Her Alma Redemptoris Mater sets the Marian antiphon sung from Advent to Candlemas, and features a soprano solo that Hannah Littleton sings beautifully and expressively. The same soprano features in the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis by Cecilia McDowall, her St Pancras Canticles. These are the most substantial pieces recorded here - skilful, imaginative, sure-footed compositions that bring the programme to a satisfying conclusion.