REVIEWS
December 2008 - In Mulieribus manages a late Christmas treat. James McQuillen, Oregonian.
October 2008 - In Mulieribus Does it Again. Jeffrey Tucker, New Liturgical Movement.
December 2007 - Review of Notre Dame de Grâce. David Stabler, Oregonian.
In Mulieribus manages a late Christmas treat
James McQuillen, Oregonian
December 2008
Like many of us stymied by the winter weather, the women's vocal group In Mulieribus (whose name is Latin for "among women") was late with a Christmas gift: Its Dec. 22 concert had to be moved to Sunday, Dec. 28. But a full house at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church received it gratefully, and well they should have, as this septet is
among the most accomplished and appealing new ensembles formed in Portland in several years.
The foundation of the thoughtfully designed program was the so-called "O antiphons," a set of seven responses which have accompanied the "Magnificat" at Vespers during the last
week of Advent for centuries. Each is based on one of the attributes of the messiah as named by the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament (and preceded by 'O,' hence the name): 'O Sapientia"("O Wisdom"), "O Radix Jesse"("O Root of Jesse") and so on.
In the first half, each antiphon was offered in plainsong along with other thematically related pieces ranging from works of Hildegard von Bingen and Perotin to 13th-century
French carols to Renaissance motets. Even though all but one of the pieces in this half was written before the 17th century, there was huge variety in technique and
expressiveness, without a dull moment.
The second half opened with a setting of the "Magnificat"by Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina followed by a new setting of the O antiphons by contemporary Norwegian composer
Wolfgang Plagge. The latter was a world premiere -- the piece was written in 2003 for an ensemble which disbanded before performing it -- as well as a fascinating and promising
foray into new music for In Mulieribus. Its bitonal harmonic language was modern, but the structure and meditative mood clearly echoed sacred settings from many centuries
before.
Under the direction of the felicitously named co-founder Anna Song, the singing was exquisite, with nicely-turned phrases and a well-blended pure tone. The six singers (Tuesday
Rupp, Kari Ferguson, Jo Routh, Catherine van der Salm, Shaelyn Schneider and Ann Wetherell) have years of experience both as scholars and singers, often working together in
other Portland ensembles, and it showed. They were sensitive to the music, the texts, each other and the live acoustic in the room.
In Mulieribus is reminiscent of the all-female it group of early music in the 1990s, Anonymous 4. Now that that ensemble has formally broken up (and has gone over largely to
American folk music when it does reunite), there's a place to be filled, and these women are on course to being able to fill it.
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In Mulieribus Does it Again
Jeffrey Tucker, New Liturgical Movement
October 2008
The new recording by In Mulieribus, a Portland-based, all-women vocal ensemble that specializes in early music, just arrived, and once again I can't take it off the CD player. Here it is.
The recording was made from live performances from 2004-2008. I often cringe when I see something described as live because it often means background noise and horrid clapping but there is none of that here - which I point out if that would deter you in the same way it might me.
Like their previous CD, they manage to unite scholarship, performance excellence, and accessibility. So you learn from their musical discoveries (there are many on this CD), you are astounded at the mastery and balance, and it is immediately affecting even for someone who has not somehow cultivated a specialist's taste in early music. Even more a listener who knows none of this music, their performances make the genre very convincing.
The CD explores a greater range of repertoire, including Renaissance polyphony (Victoria, Palestrina, Morley, Morales), which is precisely the music I was aching to hear them sing after listening to their first CD. I'm not sure that there is anything else like this on the market: women's voices taking on this music with vigor and excellence.
There are revelations here too, such as the Anon. "Portum in ultimo"; (which could be ancient or modern or anything in between), Machaut's "Quand j'ay l'espart" and the deeply emotional "Adieu m'amour, adieu ma joye" by G. Dufay. There is a Christmas theme at work also with "O Magnum mysterium," Durufle's "Tota plulchra es," and a wonderful version of the traditional carol "Es ist ein' Ros' entsprungen."
There is not a note out of place. It is inspiring CD too, not only for women who aspire to sing this music, in either a liturgical or performance context, but
for anyone interested to see how this early music can speak to us so magnificently in our time. An excellent job. I'm not entirely sure how the marketing end of singing groups
works but it strikes me that there is a great future for these singers.
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Review of Notre Dame de Grâce
David Stabler, Oregonian
December 2007
CD: In Mulieribus, Notre Dame de Grâce (self-produced): In Mulieribus ("Among Women") consists of seven Portland female singers who sing music written mainly before 1750. Here, they sing 10 medieval chants of stark, enchanting beauty from the famous Notre Dame school. The singing is rhythmically vital, often exuberant, and the sound pure and graceful.
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