Excerpted from Deneise Self's 5/30/96 Review

Altramar: a Bright, Beautiful Star

Celebrating a Medieval Italian Christmas

I sit in the quiet content of dawn's light, a single candle burning, and listen again to Altramar's stunning new CD Nova Stella: a medieval Italian Christmas. This is perhaps my tenth hearing of this beautiful CD, but with each re-play, I cam captivated once more. There is a subtle epiphany to this music, a delicate transcendence which is deeply spiritual. Though based on "holy songs" that St. Francis of Assisi and villagers from Greccio, Italy may have sung in a hermit's cave on a Christmas night in the year 1223, Altramar has compiled these laude spirituali into a CD which has universal appeal, not limited by heavy-handed religiosity.

From an historical perspective, these laudes are "musically simple and direct," probably derived fro oral traditions. Saint Francis was renown[ed] for preferring the simple, and for preferring songs set to popular tunes-- creating devotional music which was accessible to the masses. Using manuscripts of some of the oldest Italian lyrics for which there is at least partial written music, Altramar has succeeded in re-constructing from this repertoire-- adding rhythmi notation where there was none in the original, extrapolating from contextual sources. The result is music which speaks to the depth of one's soul.

Impeccably recorded (at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Mary- of-the-Woods' convent), the Nova Stella CD is the second of three Altramar CD's to be released by the Dorian Discovery label. From Angela Mariani's haunting vocal lines in the opening number Stella Nuova, to DAvid Stattelman's solo in perfect sync with period instruments for the more sombre Sovrana si ne' sembianti; from the quiet instrumental In Belleem, to the CD's closing, near-dance tune Ballata di Gloria, this Altramar CD is a joyful pleasure throughout. (Along with their first Dorian release Saint Francis and the Minstrels of God, Saint Francis and the Minstrels of God, Nova Stella is being distributed nationwide and in 40 countries, and is available at local record stores....

In December 1996 they'll appear on NPR's "Performance Today," and on Easter Sunday, in March 1997, will be heard on PRI's "Saint Paul Sunday." Also in March of 1997, Altramar will release their third Dorian label CD Iberian Garden, a two-CD set of sacred and secular songs from medieval Spain, including Jewish, Christian, and Islamic influenced music.

At their December 11 Waldron concert, you'll hear an evening of stellar music along with readings from Thomas of Celano (an account of the 1223 St. Francis Christmas)--expect a truly magical event.

About the program, lutist Chris Smith notes: "The thing about St. Francis is that he preached and sang a very inclusive, very expansive, almost pantheistic philosophy about accepting people; about direct experience with the sacred, a holistic view of life and its preciousness." About Altramar I say they have re-enlivened this historic music to total contemporary relevance. Even after 700 years, and in the vernacular Italian, these songs invite and engage the listener today."

Go here for a Nova Stella program description.
Go here to visit Dorian's web site.
Go here to visit BLEMF's site.