THE OBSERVER:

Song of Songs Stile Antico (Harmonia Mundi HMU 807489)

This ensemble, its members still in their 20s and just a dozen beautifully
blended voices singing a cappella, has emerged as one of the best and freshest
early music choirs around. Their third CD is a selection of motet and plainchant
settings from the Song of Songs, the startling Old Testament collection of
erotic love poems ascribed to King Solomon. Less familiar composers -
Lhéritier, Francisco Guerrero, Vivanco - are included alongside Lassus, Gombert
and Victoria. Palestrina's flowing lines in "Nigra sum" ("I am black but
beautiful") and "Osculetur me" ("Let him kiss me") blur the boundaries of sacred
and profane to sumptuous effect. Fiona Maddocks