Among the best young vocal ensembles, specialising in both early and contemporary music, the Marian Consort’s latest recording features Book I (1603) of Gesualdo’s Sacrae Cantiones. The 19 motets for five voices are meditations on penitence and suffering, which Gesualdo depicts in music of harmonic adventure and imaginative word painting. That he murdered his first wife and her lover may or may not have added dark inspiration. In Hei mihi, Domine (Woe is me, O Lord), cries of remorse, sighs and chromaticisms alternate with prayer-like chordal writing. The consort, under the direction of countertenor Rory McCleery, sings with cool beauty and fervent expression.
