Help! Early Music (Newbie) Question.

[TheGSMoeller]

I am currently exploring Early Music, mainly sacred music, I have enjoyed secular early music for a while but wanted to expand to sacred.
I bought these two recordings together, the Morales I listened to on Spotify and was immediately moved, especially by the Kyrie.
I've seen the Victoria Requiem mentioned several times here in GMG with good comments, so I also purchased it.
After listening to the Morales I started the Victoria and I felt as if I pressed repeat, but I didn't. Both Requiems have the same exact movements and sound almost exactly alike.

My question is just that, why are they so similar?


You can hear the samples on Amazon.com, the Kyrie and Absolve, Domine are good examples.

[jochanaan]

My guess is that:

1. They were both Spanish.
2. They lived at about the same time.
3. They probably both used the old Gregorian chants as the basis for their Requiem masses.
4. The text for the Requiem has been set pretty much in stone for centuries now.

Reason enough for their music to sound similar!  But I encourage you to begin to listen for individual differences.  Often in this repertoire it's the little differences that make (or break) a good listening experience.

[PaulSC]

After listening to the Morales I started the Victoria and I felt as if I pressed repeat, but I didn't. Both Requiems have the same exact movements and sound almost exactly alike.

My question is just that, why are they so similar?

Well, a complete answer would have many layers, but here are some thoughts. At the most general level, you are dealing with a period during which originality was less valued in an artist, relative to mastery. More specifically, you've chosen two settings of the Requiem mass, so the texts (and therefore the movements, more or less) are fixed according to Catholic liturgy. You've also chosen performances by the same ensemble and director, and McCreesh has chosen to interpolate ancient plainchant between movements, as it might have been heard during a requiem service in the composers' own time. "Absolve, Domine" is the same tune on both recordings; it isn't by Victoria or Morales, it's a plainchant tune that goes back several centuries earlier.

If you continue listening to the recordings you've chosen, I bet you'll come to appreciate their musical differences — the darker, more base-heavy textures of the Morales, the more inflected and treble-focused writing of Victoria. But in general, you'll find more variety outside the Requiem mass. I recommend the masses and sacred motets of Josquin and Lassus. I hardly know where to suggest starting with these composers, but here are a couple of recordings I've enjoyed.


[asin]B000027NV4[/asin]

[asin]B00005ATD6[/asin]

[TheGSMoeller]

Thank you, friends, for your responses and input. 

I should say that both pieces are very beautiful, and I do find some textural differences between them, but was immediately aware of the similarities, also I am not very informed with sacred texts or chants so that could explain some of my puzzlement.

This is a great history lesson and I am intrigued to keep exploring. I was so impressed with McCreesh/Gabrieli Consort on the Morales disc, that it made buying their Victoria an easy choice.