There's good reason to suppose these erotically spiritual motets, which are far too polyphonic and too artistic for use in the Pope's service, were in fact written to be sung in the devotional gatherings initiated by (Saint) Phlip Neri in Rome in the 1560s and 1570s. The singers would have been Palestrina's male colleagues from the Vatican choirs, probably from the Julian Chapel choir. Palestrina had an entrepreneurial side and issued these and other motets in printed form in 1584, for the use of confraternities of musical taste hither and yon. The texts in Latin, from the Song of Solomon, would have been comprehensible to such gentlemen singers, and would have required an allegorical interpretation.
This is one of the Hilliard Ensemble's finest recordings, singing one on a part with utmost rhythmic independence and fluidity, yet with faultless attacks and cadences, and deliciously precise tuning. Another reviewers faults the performance for the voice quality of countertenor David James; I'm rather sick of complaints about countertenors, but in this case, James does slightly overshadow soprano Lynne Dawson. That's the only weakness of the performance. The solution would have been to replace Dawson with a countertenor of equal sonority to David James, but such singers were scarce in 1986, when this recording was made. In any case, this is one of the best performances of Palestrina available.
cd1
Canticum Canticorum
01. Osculetur me osculo oris sui (2:50)
02. Trahe me post te curremus (2:31)
03. Nigra sum sed formosa (3:10)
04. Vineam meam non custodivi (2:09)
05. Si ignoras te (2:42)
06. Pulchræ sunt genæ tuæ (2:50)
07. Fasciculus myrrhæ (2:19)
08. Ecce tu pulcher es (2:29)
09. Tota pulchra es amica mea (2:12)
10. Vulnerasti cor meum (2:50)
11. Sicut lilium inter spinas (2:55)
12. Introduxit me rex in cellam (2:20)
13. Læva ejus sub capite meo (2:32)
14. Vox dilecti mei (2:05)
15. Surge propera amica mea (2:16)
16. Surge amica mea (2:33)
17. Dilectus meus mihi (2:30)
18. Surgam et circuibo civitatem (1:57)
cd2
19. Adjuro vos filiæ Jerusalem (3:24)
20. Caput ejus aurum optimum (2:51)
21. Dilectus meus descendit (2:28)
22. Pulchra es amica mea (2:36)
23. Quæ est ista quæ progreditur (2:24)
24. Descendi in hortum meum (2:44)
25. Quam pulchri sunt gressus tui (2:40)
26. Duo ubera tua sicut duo hinnuli (3:04)
27. Quam pulchra es (2:59)
28. Guttur tuum sicut vinum optimum (2:43)
29. Veni dilecte mi (2:59)
Stanze sopra la Vergine (1581)
1. Vergine bella, che di sol vestita (3:33)
2. Vergine saggia, e del bel numer’ una (3:19)
3. Vergine pura, d’ogni part’ intera (3:31)
4. Vergine santa d’ogni gratia piena (3:54)
6. Vergine chiara et stabile in eterno (3:19)
7. Vergine, quante lagrim’ ho già sparte (3:38)
Osculetur me osculo oris sui
Vergine bella, che di sol vestita
