Reviews

Excerpted from “Exsultemus: Live in Europe” CD Review
Renaissance Magazine (October 2007)

In this collection of performances taken from Exsultemus' European tour in early 2006, these otherworldly sounds receive a novel treatment, eschewing the crispness of the studio for the realism of a live audience of a evening service as it might have been performed in Aachen, Germany in the late sixteenth century features chant at its harmonious and haunting best; the group's counterpoint is crisp and superb, a paragon of musical exactitude. Each psalm set to music by early composers lives anew through their performances; “Regali natus de stirpe/ Psalm 109” opens the CD on a high note, echoing and rebounding from note to note, singer to singer with all the richness that a quartet of voices brings. Subsequent tracks generally maintain this lofty standard; the pride with which this group of young musicians from the Boston area comports itself is well-justified, considering the difficulty of many of the pieces…If one expects the pristine acoustics that typically accompany a recording of this kind, look elsewhere, but if one doesn't mind a little earthy realism to counterbalance the heavenly strains of the chant, Exsultemus: Live in Europe delivers in fine form.

Excerpted from “A tradition of love and death, reborn in Union Hall”
The Carlisle Mosquito (April 14, 2006)

Last Saturday, the stage was set at the First Religious Society for an extraordinary evening. Participants in this open ritual found themselves flung from century to century, immersed in intense emotion, tempered with intellectual fire…there really is nothing run-of-the-mill about listening to Renaissance choral music, especially when a group like Exsultemus comes to town. The Cambridge Society for Early Music presented this eight-member vocal ensemble to a full house for the third and final concert of their 2005-06 series. Listeners were presented with a fascinating program that combined musical excellence with a generous helping of food for thought…Particulars aside, this is breathtaking music — beautiful and elaborate, often employing two languages at once (Latin for the cantus firmus, the plainchant line that is the center of the composition, and French for the other contrapuntal lines that surround and magnify it.) And Exsultemus did a magnificent job bringing it to life — on the one hand, reveling in the architectural complexity, on the other hand, never losing sight of the overriding emotion. And despite nearly every work calling for a slightly different ensemble (the number of singers ranged from three to eight), the group held on to a stunningly unified ensemble “sound.”…It seems to me that the challenge of classical music is simple and constant, for both performers and listeners: How intensely are you willing to involve yourself? Exsultemus met that challenge so well, both in their performance and in their lovingly constructed program, that they made it easy for us to meet it too.

Excerpted from “Report from Boston”
Goldberg Magazine (August/September 2005)

The magnificent carved oak interior of the chapel at Phillips Andover, a private high school in Andover, Massachusetts, was the site of a concert by the local group Exsultemus. It's a relatively new group, freshly coached by Peter Phillips of The Tallis Scholars. The arrangement of pieces by de la Rue, Binchois, and Agricola was designed to recreate a hypothetical Mass setting in a Burgundian Court in the late 15th century. Frequent intervals of plainchant, expertly rendered by the group's resident musicologist Eric Rice, broke up the choral pieces. This group of eight is self-conducted, a politically democratic advantage to be sure, but less of an advantage in musical matters. Subtle nods and quietly sounded pitches by Rice kept the group on track. Luckily these singers are all very good – in pitch, interpretation, and verbal and musical articulation…Exsultemus has a strong, focused sound not unlike The Tallis Scholars. The group prefers tight French vowels, emulating the pronunciation possibly favored by the Burgundians and also used by the Orlando Consort. Basses Brian Church and Richard Giarusso maintained a smoothness and overriding gentleness in their lines that was really thrilling, and the two altos Thea Lobo and Aaron Russo offered just the right amount of inner tension at all the right moments. Details like cross relations, short, imitative passages, and delicate leaps were handled with great expertise. And a rollicking section of parallel harmonies – in faubourdon style – in the Credo from Pierre de la Rue's Missa L'homme armée held together firmly. Some of the group's final cadences (Agricola's Sancte Philippe Apostole and la Rue's Delicta Juventutis ) couldn't have been more beautiful.