Soir, dit-elle

Gramophone Magazine Critics' Choice 2004

"They don't come better than these. The opening bars of Harkavyy's Kyrie reveal seamless unisons yet, when each woman has a solo chant by Bryars, individual personalities show through. So they do with the three-part vocal texture in general, where the listener is constantly seduced by telling details that might have been less apparent in a richer texture.

If you are into Machaut, Dufay and Dunstable then Power's Mass is ample reason to chase up this album. If early renaissance music is still on your lists of "to be done", try it out and you're sure to yield to its billowing lines, piquant cadences and meditative sense of space."
William Dart (NZ Herald June 16th 2004)

The Trio Mediaeval made a powerful impact in 2001 with their debut album "Words of the Angel", their highly distinctive "Scandinavian" vocal sound bringing something fresh to the performance of sacred music. "Soir, dit-elle", with equal persuasiveness, reverses the ratio of old to new music... The uniqueness of their vocal blend has encouraged composers Gavin Bryars, Ivan Moody, Andrew Smith and Oleh Harkavyy to write new music for the three women singers. Contemporary works are here interwoven with the "Alma redemtoris" mass of Leonel Power, the great English composer and theorist who ranks alongside Dunstable as one of the defining forces of 15th century sacred music.