Sweelinck's Third Book Der Psalmen Davids (1614) can really only be talked about in superlatives; both in terms of music and this performance by the Gesualdo Consort. While his compositional development had already taken off in his Second Psalm Book of one year earlier, this Third Book is possibly even more refined and richer in musical ideas. Sweelinck, unmistakably at the height of his skills,
… here offers a kind of microcosm of his entire Psalm project, moving between subdued four-part (Psalm 1) and extraverted eight-part, like the double-choir Psalm 150. Moreover, many Psalms are mainly set in their entirety as multi-part compositions. Although many pieces from this Third Book have been released separately on CD, we hear them here in their original context and in single line-up. The Gesualdo Consort moves with flexibility through Sweelinck's constantly thinning and expanding voice tissues. The perfect balance between the individual voices provides a crystal-clear sound image, which makes the many text images in the music clearly audible. Well, a more sensational interpretation of Sweelinck's most monumental Psalter is hardly conceivable. (JWvR)more
