VOCES8: Ave Maria, Virgo Serena (Josquin des Prez)

VOCES8 sings 'Ave Maria, Virgo Serena' by Josquin des Prez at the VOCES8 Centre in London. 2021 marks the 500th anniversary of Josquin's death; in his lifetime he was considered the Michaelangelo of music, and this motet is considered to be amongst the first ever published.
TEXT
Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum, virgo serena.
Ave cujus conceptio,
Solemni plena gaudio,
Coelestia, terrestria,
Nova replete laetitia.
Ave, cujus nativitas,
Nostra fuit solemnitas,
Ut lucifer lux oriens,
Verum solem praveniens.
Ave, pia humilitas,
Sine viro fecunditas,
Cuius annunciatio,
Nostra fuit salvatio.
Ave, vera virginitas,
Immaculata castitas,
Cuius purificatio
Nostra fuit purgatio.
Ave praeclara omnibus,
Angelicis virtutibus,
Cujus fuit assumptio
Nostra glorificatio.
O Mater Dei,
memento Mei.
Amen.
TRANSLATION
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with you, gentil Virgin.
Hail, whose conception,
Full of solemn joy
Fills the heaven, the earth,
with new rejoicing.
Hail, thou whose birth
Was our festival
As our luminous rising light,
Coming before the true sun.
Hail, pious humility,
Fertility without a man,
Whose annunciation,
Was our salvation.
Hail, true virginity,
Unspotted chastity,
Whose purification
Was our cleansing.
Hail, famous with all,
Angelic virtues,
Whose assumption
Was our glorification.
O Mother of God,
Remember me.
Amen.

[@zigosepalum5641]

C'est la perfection ! À l'image de la musique de ce sublime compositeur

[@michaeld5888]

An brief interlude of sanity and purity in a mad world. This is so refreshing and we are so lucky to still be able to access this quality of performance. Perfectly pitched voices not hidebound by however well tempered instruments is something totally different and special.

[@janamariapergamano7844]

Magníficos! Que Deus Nosso Senhor os conserve e que Maria Santíssima os guarde!

[@juhanpuhm7020]

Transcendent, breathtaking, unreal. I can't imagine a finer vocal ensemble has ever existed. It is hard to know how this is even possible. Everything floats, not a single strained note, perfect intonation, perfect ensemble. Shear divine beauty, transcending to the divine, inspired by the divine. What more words can one use? (I would dearly love one day to hear Voces8 sing the chromatic harmonic progressions of Gesualdo! That would also be amazing and other worldly!)

[@mathieuguillet4036]

Thank you, VOCES8. Your work is an instrument of God's Light on Earth. 🙏🏼

[@finstrand]

Sorry, I’m out of superlatives. “Sublime” is an adjectival failure. No words, just heartfelt appreciation for your artistry.

[@MisterTayTay]

Yaaassss what a moving and thematically progressive song for its time! Performed brilliantly!

[@MisterTayTay]

lol I commented on this song bc it’s one of my faves and it just started playing but I didn’t see it was Voces8. One of my all time favorite choral groups. Of course it sounds perfect. Y’all are perfection.

[@cynthiat6505]

This sends thrills through my soul. God must smile when He hears you. Your Amen had beautiful overtones! Glorious!

[@fritzlotscher9602]

This hymn of praise to St Mary is sung in perfect style by the double quartet VOCES8. I congratulate the singers for the impeccable polyphony in this piece of music. Best regards, Fritz from Switzerland

[@danielhenriquesorucoolivei4570]

Extraordinariamente afinados e engajados! Perfeitíssimo.

[@frankorusso]

Suprema maestria, grazie infinite!

[@vivacantando]

Switching Blake and Katie for this was a stroke a genius. Beautiful work!

[@FruitofSilence]

Yes noticed this - brilliant!!

[@davidfrech9176]

A musical experience that takes you to another realm --- one of calmness, truth and purity. Such an incredible performance.

[@simonangel871]

Another serenely beautiful piece, sung by the serenely beautiful voices of Voces 8....I could listen to them all day!

[@yurykondratyev1596]

Огромное спасибо! Как приятно вас слушать! Завораживают ваши голоса!

[@justeme8876]

J'adore vos voix combinées en une superbe chorale

[@gabyfarfan8121]

They are wonderful... My respect and admiration.. Greetings from Mexico 🇲🇽

[@biancaganesh4721]

Bravo! Je suis au ciel, les anges me frôlent. Merci

[@donsharpe5786]

What a beautiful piece of music, so well performed by Voces 8. It is lovely to hear both male counter tenor and alto working together in such a beautiful way.

[@宮田智広]

The finest Ave Maria. I thank you for meeting this performance.

[@grahamrankin]

Magnificent in every respect. Thank you so much for sharing your perfection with the world.

[@lynholl]

Awesome performance!! Their captivating, ethereal voices have managed to capture in full the essence of this incredible sacred piece.💖

[@richardforshaw8479]

The last three phrases are transcendental, and utterly beautiful.

[@Nadia-qh1fe]

Thank you for your celestial and heavenly voice !!! May THE LORD bless you. O Mater DEI ora pro nobis.

[@etiennegillard8500]

Qu'est-ce que c'est beau ! Bravo mille fois ! Et un grand merci de nous faire découvrir ces airs de la renaissance !

[@wacawlubinski5218]

Arcydzieło śpiewane przez Mistrzów. Dziękuję i pozdrawiam serdecznie, w oczekiwaniu na kolejne. PL

[@donna30044]

Superbum more solito. Voces referunt miram majestatem universi.

[@alessandro2421]

Et parant in orbe Caelum

[@iansimpson4236]

Wonderful. Thank you for sharing this. 🌈

[@nh5747]

thank you. thank you so much for your beautiful and gentle harmony. i have loved this song. now you made me love this one even more ever.

[@FlorenzzaCantarechannelID123]

Terima kasih telah mempersembahkan lagu yang indah untuk memuji dan memuliakan nama Tuhan

[@MrMarioman107]

So beautiful-love the alto and tenor lines sounding so pure and lovely:)

[@michaelskelton8516]

Simply beautiful, the tuning and acoustics are perfect. Bravo!

[@musicmanni4932]

So wonderful !! Thank you, voces!

[@kevinw6814]

This has always been my favorite rendition of Ave Maria. Thank you and God bless you.

[@peterlowie5067]

Goosebumps from the very first bar ending into tears at the "O Mater Dei" I do love you all. From Amsterdam Peter

[@charlessawyer6123]

You must devote your whole lives to music to achieve such perfection with no pitch drop Such a gift to music lovers. Greetings from Australia.

[@sabineschett6277]

So so schön ❣️ danke

[@milespro4907]

Once again the new gold standard recording for a classic!

[@cateclism316]

Sang this in college as part of an early music group. One of Josquin's finest!

[@richardforshaw8479]

Why is it that, in the closing bars, seemingly basic harmonies can sound so utterly beautiful in the hands of a great master of the renaissance. It is indefinable gift called genius- it destroys me every time!

[@jacquelinevirginia686]

Marvelous performance! Amazing sopran🙏🙏

[@stephenweigel]

Wow!!! New favorite rendition of this classic!

[@Jenifer.flute20]

Beautiful piece beautifully sung by a magnificent ensemble

[@debo977]

Magnificent --with gratitude!

[@Robertmeulendijk]

As always impeccable Voces8: in tune, good balance and perfect timing.

[@Sbaxter1989]

I don't know how in the world people get through this. The tears started 10 seconds in, just listening to it. ❤✌🏻🎼

[@Lardenoy]

Pour moi aussi les larmes (tears...) " La beauté est un pressentiment du Ciel" (Odon de Cluny, XI ème s.)

[@jonathanevans7224]

I run out of superlatives for this group. Thank you Voces8.

[@XM525754]

Stunning rendition - thank-you

[@nicklamb4546]

Just utterly lovely. Medicine for the body and soul.

[@dangaines405]

Magnificent! Thanks for your dedication in playing choral songs!

[@ceciliaeberlin2946]

Awesome performance!!

[@mkshffr4936]

Every voice essential. Outstanding.

[@liliaaliciaduhaldebruz6712]

Amo esta obra y a Josquin Despres... Y alabo vuestra interpretación excelente...!!!

[@AnthonyOzimic]

Glad to hear VOCES8 sing early 16th century works. I would like to hear them go even earlier: Dunstable, Machaut, Dufay, the Eton Choir Book, etc

[@fcalderone-steichen610]

Extraordinary. Eight voices singing as one, breathing as one, never rushing. Clarity in tone and musical perfection. Impossible . . . but they do the impossible. And aren't we the lucky ones who get to listen!

[@christiankurek9225]

Well said

[@johncameron4295]

So beautiful when are you coming to New Zealand. John Cameron

[@milet8708]

心が浄化されます…

[@lenanielsen5903]

Wonderful performance🍃thank you

[@Invictus357]

Sublime as always. Calmness in a world of turmoil.

[@hoffy63]

Bravi! So thrilled to hear the voice blending for the two tenor lines as my choir had done. But, dare I say with greater purity, as we've come to expect of Voces8.

[@nightchef57]

The most beautiful work of choral music I know, sung more beautifully than I could have imagined. If I were humanity’s defense lawyer on Judgment Day, this clip would be my Exhibit A.

[@mikeyspikey1861]

Ha...'humanity's defense lawyer on Judgment Day'... brilliant

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

Exhibit B: Humanity did not design itself, nor the cosmos. Everything is created by God. If God has a problem with any of it, he has to talk to himself on how to improve his perfection.

[@ks.wojciechiwanecki3547]

Beautiful! Thank's "Music Divina" for share this video.

[@elian3941]

Ancien chanteur, j'aime beaucoup votre formation depuis un bout déjà... C'est de la qualité c'est clair, impatient des prochains titres merci !!! Sincères félicitations, bien cordialement, Elian

[@P4hs]

I've watched this 50 times.

[@marlenebastsopran]

Wow! I had to analyse this wonderful piece in a Josquin seminar last semester at Uni and loved it so much! And now that I heard it sung by you guys I do so even more! Indeed you of course can pull off any genre or epoche but the early music/renaissance/baroque area will always be my favourite! The way this piece was composed makes it feel like Josquin must have had your voices in his head when thinking of the piece. The clarity of your voices are displayed by this type of music so so well! Just sending my love♥️

[@kotetsu131]

Right? It seems to be universal that musicology students have to learn this work...I had to a decade ago also.

[@avogrid296]

Such perfect intonation -- rarely heard. Love everything Voces8 uploads!

[@dbadagna]

When most choirs sing such repertoire, one usually hears 400-cent "piano thirds" with their 7 beats per second, even on final cadences--probably because most professional singers have sung with piano accompaniment their whole lives, and that's what they are used to. Here, we can tell that every singer has the discernment to realize the importance of narrowing those intervals ever so slightly (14 cents, that is) in order to avoid these undesirable beats. Yes, this is still very rare, even among supposedly historically informed choral singers.

[@dbadagna]

Have you had an opportunity to hear the Kronos Quartet's (10-times-overdubbed) string quartet rendition of Tallis's "Spem in Alium"? They also seem to have worked hard to narrow their major thirds, performing in something like meantone temperament. v=6IzwkJKvH6Y

[@annejackson195]

@@dbadagna Thank you for sharing your knowledge and specific detail here and in the "Spem in Alium" recording. I just listened to it and it made so much more sense to me with the slightly narrowed thirds. I love listening to such ancient music well-performed.

[@charlessawyer6123]

@@dbadagna I've worked as a piano technician and sung in choirs. I find the shift between the tempered scale and the perfect intervals quite easy.

[@johnalexander6867]

Wionderful music, wondefully performed. Thank you

[@ditrower8104]

Utterly sublime.

[@hpwwerkhuelz4624]

Danke

[@BernardoLisboa-vm1to]

Certainly the most beautiful polyphonic music created by human beings!

[@monikahoch6379]

Simply divine

[@fulgenjbatista4640]

🕊🌟🕊 ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL 🙏💜🙏 💜🎵💜

[@rfeenstra5996]

Too beautiful for words…! Bellissima!

[@djr1943]

Totally, wonderfully beautiful!

[@richcoffey4080]

Wow - true perfection!

[@tonydevoy2760]

Simply extraordinarily beautiful. It feels like I'm perched on a cloud high up in the sky and VOCES8 is singing on the cloud next to me! I know that's not likely to happen but one can dream, eh?

[@fabioaltafim1571]

Maravilhoso!!

[@terryscott3980]

The brilliant vocal works of this era cannot be equalled. Isn't it strange that William Shakespeare lived in the same timezone. With all our modern technology we cannot get anywhere near these guys.

[@ecclesiastes8224]

Wonderful !!! God bless you. Warm regards from Germany

[@Hz-kw3iy]

I’d be floating! Perfect! Love from Philippines

[@JoaquimCarlosjoshua]

Other worldly!!!!!

[@kurtisburtis]

Beautiful!

[@JonasPowell]

Yes!

[@AndrewDean777]

Bravo, you wonderful things!

[@gianfrancofioravanti3140]

Il miglior complesso polifonico che abbia mai ascoltato

[@quintushoratiusflacuus]

Excelente!

[@cmm170526]

Wow! Amazing! Thank you

[@kiyacosan5591]

Nearly as exquisite as the recording I studied in college some 20 years ago. My only disappointment is the very ending where that beautiful build up to the cord does not crescendo and build, hold, echo like the recording. It is my favorite chord set in the entire piece. It fills the chamber, turning everything to glorious sound. This group can do it, I hope you will do this piece again. And then following that, the baritones come in with their note and in the recording tenors come in with their note on top of that. That is absent in this rendition. Otherwise it’s exquisite.

[@charlesandrewwenner4157]

Gorgeous, captivating

[@AnthonyOzimic]

The serenity and beauty that comes from God and of the things of God.

[@dfishpool7052]

Perfect- thank you.

[@annemartine]

Exquisite! And I remember Singing Brussels 🥰

[@monicadale6402]

Sublime.

[@MichaelStenov]

Bravo!

[@bonniefranklin6097]

Wonderful.

[@cathrynbooth-laforce6591]

Josquin!! Beautiful!!

[@nickgodwin3412]

Exquisite.

[@ArjenMeurs]

Chills down my spine, culminating at the Amen.

[@therealzilch]

Very nice rendition of one of the jewels of our musical heritage. I hope you don't mind that I sang the tenor voice by heart with you.

[@karlgrafvonmoy883]

Heart braking beautiful

[@jnmh7vcbow]

Excellent。