To Be A Pilgrim

As a break from issuing their entire Bach cantata pilgrimage, John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir released this fine disk detailing another journey that they made, the Pilgrimage To Santiago. This was the traditional pilgrimage route across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela where supposedly the remains of the apostle James lie. Gardiner and the choir made part of the pilgrimage, singing appropriate sacred material at venues along the route, normally churches. The music on the disk is beautifully sung and stretches from Gregorian roots through to the acapella polyphony of the fifteenth, sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Alongside "anon" are works by Palestrina, Victoria, Dufay, Mouton, Clemens non Papa and De Lassus. The disk comes lavishly presented in hardback book style. Even divorced from the concept album nature of the pilgrimage, it is a most rewarding musical experience.