Vespers The Newberry Consort & Ellen Hargis

• Juan de Lienas (1620 - 1650):
• 1Lienas: Deus, in adiutorium meum intende01:29
• Anonymous:
• 2Martyr Dei02:20
• Juan de Lienas:
• 3Lienas: Dixit Dominus á 805:41
• Fray Jasinto:
• 4Jasinto: Beatus vir á  1106:32
• Juan de Lienas:
• 5Lienas: Laudate pueri á 806:56
• 6Lienas: Credidi propter á 807:03
• Anonymous:
• 7Laudate Dominum omnes gentes á 803:52
• Francisco Correa de Arauxo (184 - 1654):
• 8Arauxo: Quinto tiento de medio registro de tiple de séptimo tono, FO 2904:46
• Anonymous:
• 9Ave maris stella03:50
• Juan de Lienas:
• 10Lienas: Magnificat á 1012:03
• 11Lienas: Te lucis ante terminum04:43
• 12Lienas: Salve regina á 808:42
• Total Runtime01:07:57

Info for Vespers

Chicago's best-known early music ensemble The Newberry Consort exhilarates with VESPERS, a collection of dazzlingly original music for women’s voices. The composer? A mysterious early-17th-century Mexican named Juan de Lienas, whose style energetically oscillates between Renaissance and Baroque elements.

Little is known about de Lienas beyond the manuscripts, which, much to the undeserved discredit of the poor composer, occasionally include unflattering personal remarks scrawled in the margins. Perhaps that these insults on his appearance and personality stemmed from mere envy, for the music captured by his hand presents such skill, wit and zest that it can still be enjoyed a full four centuries after its inception.

Not an easy feat by any means, and certainly facilitated by a spectacular performance of The Newberry Consort under the direction of director and soprano Ellen Hargis. Since the music on VESPERS was originally composed for use in women's convents, the bass voice is either sung up the octave, or replaced by bassoon or viola da gamba. The result is graceful, airy, ethereal, otherworldly. Easy on the ears not only for lovers of early music, and for these: a veritable treat.

Ellen Hargis, soprano, director
Margaret Carpenter Haigh, soprano
Lucía Mier Y Terán Romero, soprano
Salome Sandoval, soprano, baroque guitar
Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano
Pamela Dellal, mezzo-soprano
Ashley Mulcahy, mezzo-soprano
Debra Nagy, alto
Beverly Simmons, alto
Candace Smith, alto
Rachel Begley, bajón
Frances Conover Fitch, organ
Katherine Shuldiner, viola da gamba

Ellen Hargis
is a specialist in baroque music and co-director of The Newberry Consort, a sought-after voice teacher, and a lecturer on historical performance practice. She has been a guest lecturer on historical performance, baroque gesture and movement, rhetoric, and opera at Harvard, Yale, The Juilliard School of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory, the Eastman School of Music, and The Moscow Conservatory, among others.

As a soprano, Hargis has appeared with many renowned conductors, including Andrew Parrott, Gustav Leonhardt, Paul Goodwin, Jane Glover, and Nicolas Kraemer. She performed worldwide in recital with her duo partner, lutenist Paul O’Dette, and has performed with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, and the Mark Morris Dance Group.

A prolific recording artist, her discography of more than 50 recordings embraces repertoire from medieval to contemporary music and boasts the Grand Prix du Disque, the Choc du Monde, and two Grammy nominations for best opera recording. Hargis teaches voice for the Graduate Program in Historical Performance at Case Western University and is a visiting artist at the Eastman School of Music.

This album contains no booklet.