Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer:  Andrew Rose

Choir of the Monks of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Martin, Beuron

Pater Dr. Maurus Pfaff, O.S.B.    

Downloads include texts and detailed contents listing

I/II
Recorded 3-5 September, 1957
Engineer: Harald Baudis

III
Recorded 27-28 June, 1953
Engineer: Werner Grimme

Issued as Archiv Produktion APM 14595/97 & ARC 3088/90
Producer: Dr. Fred Hamel    

Short Notes  

The Benedictine Monks of Beuron Archabbey in Germany produced, in the 1950s, some of the finest recordings of Gregorian Chant ever made, deriving from their own daily worship traditions.

Expertly recorded on location by DGG for their Archiv Produktion label, this release originally spanned three LPs, each presenting key services in the celebration of Easter and culminating in the full Mass for Easter Sunday.

These superbly atmospheric recordings (even more so with Ambient Stereo processing) feature the choir of 30 monks, led by Father Maurus Pfaff, together with the Abbey bells. There can be few finer examples of authentic Gregorian Chant.

Notes on the transfers:

The recordings presented here originally spanned three LPs, each one of which presented a complete service spread across its two sides. The editions used were published in Tornaci Nerviorum (Tournay, Belgium) in 1957 (parts 1 and 2) and 1908 (part 3). The transfers, from near-mint Archiv Produktion LPs, presented no difficulties, and I have retained the original equalisation in this remastering, concentrating instead on reducing light tape hiss and inevitable turntable rumble.

This is a release where the effect of Ambient Stereo processing is highly recommended: the choir of 30 monks plus Father Pfaff retain their central mono image within a stereo reverberant ambient space drawn from the recordings themselves, giving a real sense of space and air around the singers.

Reviews of the original LP releases 

"These two discs contain the major part of the Liturgy of Holy Saturday according to the reformed rites put into force by the general decree of the Congregation of Sacred Rites, Maxima Redemplionis Wostrae Mysleria (November 16th, 1955). The texts, as most readers likely to be interested in this recording will know, are to be found in the Holy Week Manual (Burns & Oates), but three hymns and a psalm with antiphon are sung by the Beuron monks choir that have no place in the Roman rite and are, presumably, peculiar to Benedictine congregations.

APM14104 has on it The Blessing of the New Fire (preceded by the hymn Inventor rutili), The Blessing of the Paschal Candle, The Solemn Procession, with the lighting of all the candles carried by those taking part in the ceremony, the singing by the deacon of the wonderful Easter Song- the Exultet-probab]y composed by St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, in the fourth century, and another hymn, 0 res digna, Readings from the,Old Testament (formerly twelve, but now reduced to four: only one is included here, together with the Canticle -before called a Tract-following), The First Part of the Litanies, and the Blessing of the Baptismal Water.

APM 14105 has on it The Procession to the Font, with the beautiful canticle Sicut cervus desiderat, The Renewal of the Baptismal Promises, The Second Part of the Litanies, leading to The Mass of the Easter Vigil, begun at midnight (Kyrie eleison, Gloria- during which the bells of the monastery are rung-and Sanctus, and the various parts of the Proper). It should be noted that after the Epistle the choir alone sing the three-fold Alleluia-raised successively in pitch-and not, as in the Roman rite, the celebrant followed by the choir. After the Sanctus a bell is rung during the Elevation and the Mass proceeds from the doxology Per quem have omnia to Fax Domini, which is followed by an antiphon, Cito eunles dicile, and Psalm 117 and then by Lauds. After lie missa est the Easter processional hymn Salve festa dies is sung accompanied by a joyful peal of bells.

These discs include speech, intoning, and singing, all carried out extremely well and recorded with a good acoustic. D.G.G. are to be congratulated on their enterprise, which one hopes will be rewarded, in issuing so valuable an addition to the recorded repertory of Gregorian chant."

A. R. The Gramophone, July 1958 Review of Parts I and II

"This disc contains the whole of the Proper and Ordinary chants for Easter Sunday (the setting of the Ordinary is, of course, No. i (Lux et origo) in the Kyriale, with Credo No. r, information which, for sake of completeness, the card might have noted), the Epistle, Collect, Gospel, Preface, Paternoster, Postcommunion, and lie missa est. As in the Archive record of the Mass for All Souls (APM14002) the Monastery bells are rung after the Sanctus.

The acoustics and singing are again excellent, and this time the chief cantor does not anywhere go off pitch, though he shows some sign of strain in the versicle of the Gradual, Haec dies. This fine Gradual is, in fact, better sung on the DeccaSolesmes disc (LXT27o6), in which two cantors (at least) undertake it. As I noted before, the singing of the Beuron monks, virile in tone and prayerful in spirit, tends to be rather rigid and lacking in nuance as compared with that of the Solesmes monks, who have a more sensitive feeling for the contours of the phrases and a better "attack ". But one is very grateful for this complete presentation of the joyful Easter Sunday Mass to add to the growing collection of LP discs of Gregorian chant."

A. R. The Gramophone, March 1955 Review of Part I

Producer and Audio Restoration Engineer:  Andrew Rose  

STRAVINSKY   

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Goehr

recorded 1952

CHOPIN

Zurich Radio Orchestra Goehr

recorded 1948

Noel Mewton-Wood   piano

FLAC downloads include PDF score of Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2   

Short Notes  

"...surely the finest performance the work ever received. This particular recording has been on my longer desert island list since it was released..." - Paul Shoemaker, MusicWeb International

Noel Mewton-Wood's tragic death at his own hands in December 1953 deprived the world of what had already been widely acknowledged as a great musical talent.

Pristine Classical has already presented a great proportion of Mewton-Wood's recordings, and we round off our concerto series this week with the superb Stravinsky and the well-loved Chopin Second. Despite some less-than-ideal sonics, you'll want to hear these for Mewton-Wood's superlative performances at the keyboard.

Recording Notes

Although we are lucky to have a handful of recordings which demonstrate the wonderful pianism of Noel Mewton-Wood, it is perhaps to be regretted that these are largely drawn from the LPs made by the Musical Masterpiece Society and its various offshoots. Often, particularly in the early days, rather poorly recorded, the company also kept costs down by simplifying cover designs and information (or lack of it) as well as cheaply pressing lightweight ten inch vinyl discs.

The fact that these two recordings also span the often 'difficult' years as new tape technology replaced established 78rpm disc-to-disc recording methods has created extra work for the modern restorer. Both recordings are lacking in the extreme top end, and the orchestral tone at the beginning of the Chopin leaves a great deal to be desired. Happily this is to a degree rectified as the work progresses, and would have been passable for 78rpm release. Both recordings suffer from a light amount of peak distortion, but this has generally been rendered as unobtrusive as possible. What does shine in both of these recordings is the superb piano playing and generally fine piano tone of Mewton-Wood, for which we can be most grateful!

"...surely the finest performance the work ever received. This particular recording has been on my longer desert island list since it was released.

The music of Stravinsky contains many ironies-ironies of harmony, of rhythm, and, to credit Bernstein, even ironies of style and mood. Stravinsky had had many bad experiences with performers "interpreting" his music, the result of which being that one or more of the ironies would be resolved and the complexity of the work consequently reduced. Just after this recording, he began issuing firm embargos against any "interpretation" loudly criticizing any performance that went beyond playing the notes exactly at the correct tempo and volume. Any performer who attempted to add anything to a Stravinky performance was attached for making errors, and hence Stravinsky performances fell into a frozen routine, and have all sounded alike.

But not this one. Mewton-Wood plays parts of this music as if he's really having fun, but not so much that the ironic solemnity of other parts of the music is in any way compromised. This extremely difficult balance is hereby brilliantly achieved; whether Stravinsky appreciated it or not, I have no word. But for my money this is one of the half dozen truly great Stravinsky recordings of the century and a must for any Stravinsky collector."