John Sheppard, Media Vita – Stile Antico (Harmonia Mundi)

Anna Picard
Sunday 03 January 2010 01:00 GMT
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It is more than 20 years since the Tallis Scholars recorded Media Vita and though their performance remains peerless, Stile Antico's recording has many attractive qualities.

The first of these is a very lovely alto blend, which remains a constant in a programme that contrasts Sheppard's ecstatic Latin polyphony with the quiet simplicity of his English motets. "I Give You a New Commandment" is similar in subject and style to Tallis's "If Ye Love Me", while "The Lord's Prayer" is one of the finest I've heard.

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