Why hello, are you still checking into this moribund blog? Your Tatler is tickled pink there are a precious few still interested in it. Grateful thanks to you few. Your reward for such loyalty is, for what it’s worth, this blog’s revival, but taking a slightly different editorial tack.
Critical essays on the mess that is our Holy Catholic Church shall continue, but with less frequency (to dwell on it is too dispiriting, pun intended) and more attention devoted to interesting musical finds and reviews. Also, of course, there will be pieces on the unseaworthy and poorly managed Biden ship of state, with its hopelessly incompetent crew, and its inevitable sinking or foundering on the shoals of the Trump campaign.
For now however, here is news of a marvelous musical discovery, made only today.
Note: the brief description of this recording is adapted from an email sent to a priest friend.
Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500-1553): Officium defunctorum Missa pro Defunctis (1544)
Archiv Production 457 597-2
A wonderful discovery: a disc from your Tatler’s increasingly unplayed CD collection (it’s almost entirely hi-res streaming these days, Qobuz being the server of choice, it having the deepest classical catalog (which includes the recording being reported on here) and the best sound.
Your Tatler has no idea where or how the disc made it into his collection, but suspects he saw it in a Taos thrift shop and bought it (probably for 50 cents), because it looked interesting. He then promptly forgot about it.
[Correction: the CD, it turns out, was a gift years ago from the distinguished “ecclesiastical historian manque,” as he likes to refer to himself, William J. Tighe. The Tatler regrets the error and warmly thanks his historian friend of many years.]
It turned up–how else–when looking for something else. Curiosity peaked, as the composer was unknown to your Tatler, he played it. What a glorious and beautiful surprise, it’s quite unlike the many musical settings of the Requiem Mass your Tatler has heard or chanted in. The recording was made in 1998 and appears to be the only one made of the work. The recording also has something rarely heard* in most recordings of the Requiem Mass, the inclusion of the Mass in its entirety: the ordinary and propers of course, plus every word intoned or chanted, prayers, scripture readings, everything but the homily, if there was one.
The advantage of this inclusiveness is that anyone who has yet to experience a celebration of the Latin Mass, can, in the recording, get an idea of its mystical beauty and, we hope, appreciate the great tragedy of it being dropped after so many centuries of its celebration. This recording is a must have then, not only for the serious music lover, but Latin Mass enthusiasts, as well.
Addendum: for those interested in learning a little more about Christóbal de Morales and his Requem, the following brief piece found on a Barcelona website should prove helpful.
*The only other recording known to your Tatler, who had a hand in its re-release, is the Requiem Mass with Mozart’s music, celebrated in Boston following the assassination of President Kennedy. Heavy with history and tragedy, it is a monumental recording. Be aware though, it was recorded in difficult conditions, the packed Holy Cross Cathedral, so the sound quality is only barely adequate. Cuts were made as well, but it is an important and historical document.
The Taos Tatler 