Track Listing

1. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: Verbum caro
2. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: Nowell! Nowell! Out of Your Sleep
3. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: Remember O Thou Man
4. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: Sweet was the Song
5. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: Ave Rex Angelorum
6. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: There is no Rose
7. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: Ding! Dong! Merrily on high
8. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: Rocking
9. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: Unto us is born a Son
10. Ex Maria Virgine, a Christmas sequence for chorus & organ: Verbum caro
11. Birthday Sleep, for chorus
12. O, do not move, for chorus
13. A Nativity Carol, for chorus
14. Marienhymne, for 2 choruses
15. O Thou Gentle Light, for tenor & chorus
16. Angels, for chorus & organ

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #147379 in Music
• Released on: 2008-11-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

AllAboutJazz.com, Michael Bailey, December 12, 2008
British composer John Tavener is the big daddy of modern choral composition, save for, perhaps, Arvo Part. Tavener is a deep musical mystic well versed in the Ikons and Kontakions of the Eastern Orthodox Church. A little history for perspective: in the 11th century, two large factions of the Christian church had a difference of opinion resulting in a non-heretical break in the Christian church into the Roman Catholic church, with its headquarters in Rome and the Eastern Orthodox church, with its headquarters shared among the Patriarchies of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. It is in the musical tradition of this latter church that John Tavener excels.

Ex Maria Virgine, was commissioned by Timothy Brown in 2005 and the Clare College Choir, Cambridge, who have recorded the selections for the present release. The 10-part piece focuses on the Blessed Virgin, honoring the "Eternal Feminine" as she is honored in Eastern Orthodoxy. Ex Maria Virgine is a difficult piece with flashes of great beauty. Tavener recasts "There is No Rose," "Ding dong Merrily on High" and "Rocking" in jarring fashion. This music is often dissonant and anxious, but relaxes in the final "Verbum Caro."

Tavener's shorter pieces are beautiful. "Birthday Sleep" based on a text by Vernon Watkins, is grand in an ancient style. Tavener soars here. The composer's setting for Yeat's "A Nativity" begins with a darkness that gives way to brightness as the piece unfolds. "O Thou Gentle Light" from the Orthodox liturgy, is the most consonant work and is stunning. Tavener remains, with Ex Maria Virgine the choral composer of note. It is encouraging to realize that music this fine continues to be composed.

Fanfare Archive, J. F. Weber, May/June 2009
Two of the selections are first recordings: Ex Maria virgine, the major work at 38 minutes, and Marienhymne. The other works are not widely available, for Birthday Sleep was recorded by Stephen Layton (28:4), A Nativity by Matthew Greenall (not issued over here), and Angels by David Hill (23: 2). I cannot find the first recordings of the other two pieces.

Marienhymne is sung in German, while O Thou Gentle Light is sung in Greek (the ancient hymn Phos hiláron, which Dom Lucien David also set as a neo-Gregorian chant). The earliest work on the program, Angels, dates from 1985.

The major work is a setting of nine age-old texts in Latin or English separated by a refrain, "Ex Maria virgine," the first movement being repeated at the end. One movement has a Greek refrain, the original of "hail, Mary," but the first word is pronounced "kay-ray" rather than "ky-ruh." The composer has a devoted following, so these accomplished performances will delight them

Customer Reviews

Sacred and sublime
I'm hard pressed to think of another contemporary composer presently writing more challenging and beautiful choral music than John Tavener. Whether he's adapting existing ancient melodies or setting various poetic texts to music, the British-born musician has shown a special knack for imbuing his vocal pieces with a meditative and mystical ambience. His latest CD, "Ex Maria Virgine," is no exception. Described as a "Christmas sequence for choir and orchestra," it's a 10-part work, completed in 2005, that evokes Tavener's deep religious faith through a celebration of the Virgin Mary. And it does so in his usual idiosyncratic fashion. Tavener eschews the static nature of most choral music for a variegated and dynamic range of harmonic and rhythmic patterns of breathtaking intensity. The pieces range from stately (Verbum Caro) to discordant (Nowell! Nowell! Out of Your Sleep) to beatific (Rocking). Tavener creates some of the most gorgeous melodies imaginable, but with a lyrical astringency that darkens and complicates them in wonderful ways. His music thus bridges tradition and modernism, and imbues even the most sacred musical moments with a vibrant, almost brash immediacy. Rounding out this collection are six additional songs set to religious texts, all of them brought to life through the dazzling performance of the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge under the supple and knowing direction of Timothy Brown. This is holiday music of uncommon power and beauty that transcends its seasonal context to provide emotional and spiritual sustenance throughout the year.

Truly transcendent music
I got this when it first came out about a year ago and I did not warm to it and put it away, Returning to it, I am now entranced with it.

Ex Maria Virgine starts off with i) the creepy "Verbum Caro", moves through an eccentric variant of ii) "Nowell, Nowell"; then it moves to the iii) meditative "Remember O thou Man" interspersed with exclamatory music in contrast to the mediation, resting on iv)the lovely "Sweet was the song", moving up several gears to the v) aggressively sounding "Ave rex" punctuated with the organ; moving back to a more restful and ethereal state of vi) "There is no rose", moving to vii) the zany "ding dong", moving to the viii) beautiful lullaby "Rocking", and further lovely tune ix) "Unto us is born a Son" punctutated with ecstatic reaching for the skies and ending with x) the creepy "Verbum Caro". The rest of the album is also lovely but I would single out "Angels" with its tremolo organ playing.