Review: The talented Dutch vocal ensembles perform the works of Gerald Finzi and Ralph Vaughn Williams. Delightful!

Songlist: Time, Come away, death, Ring out your bells, Love is a sickness, Rest, The unquiet grave, Heart's Music, Linden Lea, Fain would I change that note, Alister Mc. Alpines lament, Silence and music, Life a right shadow is, This world a hunting is, This life which seems so fair, I praise the tender flower, I have loved flowers that fade, My spirit sang all day, Clear and gentle stream!, Nightingales, Haste on, my joys!, Wherefore to-night so full of care

Review: Acclaimed Dutch vocal ensembles sings the cappella works of William Byrd including The Mass For Four Voices.

Songlist: Mass for Four Voices, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Kyrie, Benedictus, Agnes Dei, Come to me rief for ever, Retire my soul, Come help O God, Prevent us O Lord, Cibavit eos, Ave verum corpus, Confirma hoc deus, Lustorum animae

Review: Since its first concerts in 1978 this group of five professional singers consistently ranks among the top a cappella ensembles of the world. The five versatile musicians always strive for authenticity in the way they perform the different styles of music with a repertoire that stretches from the Middle Ages to Contemporary Music. This historically accurate, vivid collection of Christmas songs ranges from the Renaissance to modern times and are sung (and recorded) exquisitely. Well known in Europe this ensemble is not so well known in the US and we hope that they will tour here more often. Their singing and arrangements are topnotch and this recording belongs in everybody's Holiday collection.

Songlist: Gloria in cielo e pace in terra, O Jesu dolce, Nino Dios d'amor herido, Pastores, si nos quereis, Oyd, oyd, una cosa divina, Virgen sancta, A un nino llorando, Celebrate This Holy One, Follow That Star, Christmas Song, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, A Virgin Most Pure, Ding Dong! Merrily on High, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, King Jesus Hath a Garden, God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, Past Three a Clock, A Venezuelan Christmas Carol, 4 Dutch Christmas Carols, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger

Review: Rossini's "Little Solemn Mass, " which the composer famously called "neither little, nor more than intermittently solemn," was nevertheless a great success at its premiere in Paris on March 14, 1864, by which time the famous opera composer was already long "retired," though he continued to write in non-operatic genres. Rossini was 71 when he wrote it, and it was to be his last large composition. The other small songs and piano pieces he created were published under the ironic title of Peches de vieillesse - "Sins of My Old Age." The first version was scored for two pianos, harmonium, and twelve voices and did not yet include the "O Salutaris" for soprano solo which was added later.Within three years Rossini had responded to requests for an orchestration; this version for large ensemble was not given until after the composer's death, at the Theatre Italien in Paris, on February 24, 1869. The Quink Vocal Ensemble is one of the best vocal groups in the world. Their repertoire includes a cappella works ranging from the early Renaissance to contemporary music. Quink has toured the U.S. at least once a year since 1985 and recorded many albums for Telarc.

Songlist: Kyrie, Gloria, Laudamus Te, Gratias, Domine Deus, Qui Tollis, Quoniam, Cum Sancto Spiritu, Credo Crucixus, Et Resurrexit, Et Vitam VEnturi, Prelude Relgieux, Ritournelle, Sanctus Benedictus, O Salutaris, Agnus Dei, Prelude Religieux

Review: The three women and two men of this Dutch classical ensemble open this recording with 6 sixteenth-century works by the Dutch composer Sweelinck (though written in French, the courtly language of the time). Two "chanson" by Debussy follow, and then selections by Poulenc and Britten, both twentieth-century composers; as is characteristic of modern music, the harmonic progressions can be something of a non-sequitur, depending on your point of view! For dessert, five close harmony arrangements, including "Besame Mucho," "My Romance" (as arranged by Puerling) and of course, "Ain't Misbehavin'". A rich and satisfying tapestry of sound.

Songlist: vostre amour est vagabonde, tes beaux yeux, tu as tous seul, pseaume 72: tes jugements dieu veritable, pseaume 78: sois ententif, mon peuple, pseaume 137: estans assisaux rives aquatiques, dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder, yver! vous n'estes qu'un villain, la petite fille sage, le chien perdu, en rentrant de i'ecole, le petit garcon malade, le herisson, st. godrics hymn, i mon waxe wod, lenten is come, the long night, yif ic of luv can, carol, ye that pasen by, a death, besame mucho, if ever i would leave you, misty, My Romance, ain't misbehavin'

Review: On Invisible Cities, Quink Vocal Ensemble perform unusual and striking a cappella repertoire. The performances heard on this recording make up a rare collection of the music of twentieth century Dutch composers. This release contains works rooted in Gregorian chant as well as pieces influenced by the atonal and twelve-tone compositions of this century.

Songlist: Ton de Leeuw, Missa Brevis, Kyrie eleison, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, Priere, Robert Heppener, Canti carnascialeschi:, Trionfo di Bacco e d'Arianna, Daan Manneke, Madrigaal: "La citta sottili", Huub Kerstens, Als ghy van de doodt sult zijn verbeten, opus 38, Manneke, Psaume 121, De Leeuw, En begheeft my niet, Egidius, waer bestu bleven?, Het visschertje, Kerstens, Les mortels, opus 19b, Manneke, Due Cante, Canto I, Canto 11

Review: Between 1588 and 1627, the isolation of English musical culture was broken by the influx of Italian music and composers, and during this period a beautiful collection of Madrigals with English words and composers was created. The acclaimed Quink Vocal Ensemble (Kees-Jan de Koning, bass, Harry van Berne, tenor, Paula de Wit, soprano, Machteld van Woerden, soprano, and Corrie Pronk, alto) bring us 18 perfectly-recorded madrigals from this period, three from Thomas Morley, two from Francis Pilkington, two from Thomas Tomkins, two from Thomas Bateson, two from William Byrd, one from John Farmer, four from John Wilbye, and two from Thomas Weelkes. This music is bright and romantic, with a lively grace and harmonic clarity, the result of probably the first English musical "craze!"

Songlist: Now Is The Month Of Maying, Farewell, Disdainful, No, No Nigella, Why Should I Grieve?, Sweet Phylida, Phyllis, Now Cease To Move Me, Too Much I Once Lamented, Those Sweet Delightful Lilies, Phyllis, Farewell, Come To Me Grief, Forever, Come, Woeful Orpheus, Fair Phyllis I Saw, Weep, Weep, Mine Eyes, (1st Part)I Fall, I Fall, O Stay Me, (2nd Part) And Though My Love Abounding, Adieu, Sweet Amaryllis, The Nightingale, The Organ Of Delight, Hark, All Ye Lovely Saints

Review: Folk songs exist in all countries and come from all centuries, whether in the form of lullabies, love songs or narrative ballads. These songs reflect our societies and diverse cultures. The Quink Vocal Ensemble has captured some of these songs from Europe, the United States and Israel. A number of them were arranged by classical composers such as Ralph Vaughn Williams who actively collected and studied folk songs and Arnold Schoenberg, best known for his less tonal works, set texts from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to create works that rival the best Renaissance madrigals. This CD brings together a quite varied but interesting group of songs.

Songlist: Hora!, Hitrag'ut, Sheleg al yiri, Loch Lomond, The Dark-Eyed Sailor, She's Like The Swallow, At The Foot Of Yonder Mountain, The Riddle Song, Nyeznyakomka, The Unfaithful Lover, Handsome Mirko / Eighteen Shining Buttons, Heaven Above, Hussars / Fairy Tale, Am Donaustrom, Ej, steht ein Madchen, Auf der Erde hat nichts Weile, Glaubst du, dass ich, Ich hab' die Nacht getraumet, Wie kommt's dass du so traurig bist, Schein uns, du liebe Sonne, Herzlieblich Lieb, durch Scheiden, Virginie, les larm' aux yeux, Oh! Madelon, je dois partir, !Viva La Mancha!, !Con el vito!

Review: Acclaimed Dutch singers perform beautifully the unaccompanied choral works of Britten. Since their debut in 1978 the ensemble has finely-crafted its bright, clear, rich a cappella sound, applying it with great success to compositions from Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic and even folk origins. Quink's take on master vocal composer Benjamin Britten is unusual in that they perform works written for choir and unaccompanied chorus, shedding new light on them with the intimacy and clarity of their interpretations. Beginning with "Hymn to St. Cecelia, OP. 27" (1942) and "Five Flower Songs, OP. 47" (1950) and continuing through the eight Medieval lyrics of "Sacred and Profane, OP. 91" (1975, a year before Britten's death), these songs give us a new appreciation of Britten, and of course of Quink, one of the best classical choral quintets in the world! Recommended.

Songlist: Hymn To Cecilia, Five Flower Songs, Sacred And Profane, A Wealden Trio: The Song Of Women - Ford, The Sycamore Tree - Trad., A Shepard's Carol - Auden

Review: From about 1520 to about 1620 the Italian madrigal, which refers to almost any musical setting of secular verse (but especially those whose subject is love and death) of two to eight voice parts, had its brief but brilliant lifetime. Quink, (Kees-Jan de Koning, bass, Harry van Berne, tenor, Paula de Wit, soprano, Machteld van Woerden, soprano, and Corrie Pronk, alto) since its debut in 1978 has established its reputation and following on the international concert scene. "Renaissance" features 14 madrigals, one by Cipriano de Rore, four by Giaches de Wert, three by Claudio Monteverdi, two by Alessandro Scarlatti and four by Alessandro Stradella. The liner notes contain bios of these men, and the words of all the songs in Italian and English. Beautiful harmonies!

Songlist: Alla Dlce ombra, Dura Legge D'Amor, Lo Non Son Pero Morto, Datemi Pace, Vezzosi Augelli, Baci, Soavi E Cari, Lo Mi Son Giovinetta, Si Ch'io Vorrei Morire, O Selce, O tigre, O Ninfa, Mori Mi Dici, Tirsi Un Giorno Piangea, Pupilette Amorose, Piangete, Occhi Dolenti, Clori Son Fido Amante