# A trove of listening



## Buxtehude

Yesterday the mailman dropped off a box from eBay. I unpacked something I'm looking forward to greatly. I won an auction of 25 CD's all Tallis Scholars. I've been sampling many a capella ensembles lately and listening to much choral sacred music.

Right now I am listening to a Requiem Mass by Duerte Lobo. If I were independently wealthy, I would spend all day with headphones on!

With the Tallis Scholars, I'll be walking through and discovering a new(to me) world of music.


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## Manxfeeder

Good catch! The Tallis Scholars always sound wonderful. I have 25 CDs in my collection also. 

From Lobo, I hope you can get to the Victoria requiem: deceptively simple but very serene.

Their English choral music (Tallis, Cornysh, Taverner) is so serene that it almost puts me to sleep, but in a good way, with the sopranos (technically, the superius) soaring above the choir (what they called jubilating). They also do well with Palestrina. I hope you have their Obrecht recording. The Missa Maria Zart is to masses what Bruckner is to symphonies, and their recording is among their best.


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## Buxtehude

I'll listen to Victoria next. There are two Palestrina CD's in here. I have been on a Byrd binge lately, and it is nice to hear what the rest of Europe was doing. Obrecht is not in this batch, but I will seek it out on your recommendation.

I have some of these pieces on vinyl, but there is no substitute for CD clarity when it comes to "cathedral reverb". And the Tallis Scholars' performances appeal to my preference for clear, blended singing, especially in the higher voices.


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