12/ 20/01
Music of the Light
San Antonio Express-News

"...a fascinating new chapter in the evolution of SAVAE was revealed Sunday afternoon...Thus, with the sounding of the shofar, this tightly knit concert became a celebratory mosaic of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The group’s trademark purity of tone was in evidence, but with appropriate shifts lending authenticity to the new repertoire.”

“The product is a fresh, new-old kind of sound that seems on this evidence musicologically plausible. The singing and playing of the seven multi-talented members of the ensemble is bright, sweet and eloquently pointed.”

“This suave San Antonio ensemble has made a specialty of music from the post-conquest New World. You probably haven’t heard anything like it unless you own the group’s previous recordings....some of us want to sing along”

"The San Antonio Vocal arts Ensemble has made it onto the charts by re-creating compositions celebrating the patron saint of Mexico. Much of the music has been gathered together in a compelling recording titled ‘Guadalupe, Virgen de los Indios.’ [The CD]...became a world music mini-hit, appearing on the Billboard world music chart and drawing national attention of media ranging from National Public Radio to religious periodicals.”

“Fascinating and lovely fusion of Indigenous American and colonial Spanish musical styles.”

“With its new recording, the ensemble has introduced listeners to some songs of newly converted Christian indians that haven’t been performed in 400 years or more. Along with the unique sound that the group has captured, the subject matter...is a large part of the recordin’s allure.”

“Indian and Mexican born composers of European descent celebrated the Virgin with church pieces presented here on the Iago CD, many uncovered for the first time for performance and recording by research in Mexican archives. The effects are eerie, mystical and gorgeous.”

“Sometimes the simplest things are the best. This concert was 45 minutes of pure magic...The ensemble and its carefully chosen program engaged the room beautifully. The performances were splendid all around, with especially high marks for the ensemble’s control at pianissimo in Josquin Desprez’s Tu Pauperum. The concert attained something near perfection in Paert’s hypnotic music.”

“Polished SAVAE delivers shine, style. The eight-voice SAVAE delivered its customary polish, precision, and vivacity Monday night in a program that ranged from Renaissance Spain…to modern England and the United States. Velvet attacks, buoyant movement and wonderfully billowing dynamics brought Victoria’s “O Magnum Misterium” to life…”

“…The music beams with joy, hope and life. The performances by the San Antonio musicians are astonishingly perfect whether in unison or in supple, blended layers.”

“…The sixteen selections, culled from church music and museum archives, are all defined by the marriage of cultures. A piece written in the 17th century — has an Afro-Cuban flavor that seems light years removed from the singular high harmonies being heard in Spanish cathedrals. Musicologists affiliated with the project have suggested that the song’s refrain is tied to deep-rooted African dances.”

“…A new recording by the SAVAE Vocal Ensemble, which specializes in the carefully researched sounds of colonial Latin America, has sought to recreate the music sung centuries ago in the New Spain missions. Native Angels is a window into what some musicologists maintain are the first liturgical works written in the new world.” “…The feeling at first is as if you were in a cathedral, with the spiraling, echoing harmonies of sacred music…But from somewhere ‘over there’ comes an insistent, throbbing counterpoint … Native Angels is, in some ways, fusion church music — where the airy, etherial choir meets the conga drum.”

“A Cappella Setting Lets Vocal Ensemble Shine”
“…it was a pleasure to rediscover their trademark smooth sound and simpatico sense of ensemble. Randall Thompson’s Paper Reeds was given a beautifully balanced reading, particularly in its long, treacherously exposed legato lines… a women’s trio displayed heads-up musicianship and keen ears in a challenging score.”

“Ensemble Delivers Style”
“…The troupe has mastered the straight, pure, organ-like tone, clear lines and exquisite balances of the medieval and Renaissance style. The music was chosen with intelligence, taste and variety… it sparkled with bouncy rhythms, crisp melisma and — seemingly a specialty of this troupe — wonderfully feathered dynamics.”

“A Craving for the Renaissance”
“…There was another thoughtfully programmed, expertly delivered collaboration between the SAVAE Vocal Ensemble and the San Antonio Early Music Ensemble… the balance of sound, ensemble and musicianship of their combined groups are equal to any that were imported recently. That goes double in terms of appealing programming.”

“The same performance values that impressed last year were in evidence in this concert. Expert musicianship and blend were foremost, but they were achieved in an unforced, natural way. They affected white, vibrato-less timbres where that style was warranted, but let loose with dark, rich sound in works by 20th century composers.”

“…First there was the program, a varied, judiciously chosen agenda built on unusual Spanish, Mexican and Latin American music tracing the nativity story. Secondly, there was the group’s remarkable blend and uncanny sense of ensemble.”