The wide-ranging programme follows their established recipe of early, contemporary and improvised music, recorded to achieve heightened resonance, embellished with Garbarek’s poetic soprano sax, at times jaunty, at others possessing the imperative cry of a shofar. The ebullient rhythms of Pérotin’s ‘Alleluia Nativitas’, and its segue into Hildegard of Bingen’s ‘O Ignis Spiritus’, then Garbarek’s ‘We Are The Stars makes a typically compelling sequence. The title song – anonymous Scottish 16th century – is a heartfelt finale. Not for purists, but offering its own singular and hard-won purity.
Fiona Maddocks, The Observer
Le panorama musical est riche en détonants attelages, mais celui-ci fait peut-être un peu plus frémir que tous les autres : Jan Garbarek et The Hilliard Ensemble, ou la réunion d’un saxophoniste et de quatre voix masculines (contre-ténor, deux ténors et un baryton). Ces cinq fréquences se mélangent pour de très longs voyages qui les conduisent de Hildegard von Bingen (XIe siècle) à Arvo Pärt (contemporain) en passant par Perotin (Ecole de Notre-Dame, XIIe siècle) ou des morceaux de Jan Garbarek lui-même. (..) Noël avant l’heure.
Guillaume Tion, Libération
Aufgenommen am Ende der gemeinsamen Schaffensphase 2014 in einer Kirche im schweizerischen Bellinzona reicht diesmal das Repertoire von Originals über Arvo Pärt bis zu Pérotin und Hildegard von Bingen, gestalterisch über zwei Jahrzehnte perfektioniert und klanglich mit den Möglichkeiten der Weite und Präsenz spielend. Eine pointierte Conclusio als Ende der Album-Tetralogie.
Ralf Dombrowski, Stereoplay
Ein Abend, der einen atemlos zurücklässt. Mit geistlichen Gesängen von Komitas und Pérotin bis zu Nikolai Kedrov und Arvo Pärt geben sie einen stimmungsvollen Überblick über ihre mehr als 20 Jahre währende Kooperation. Der Sound ist einfach zauberhaft – ECM-Chef Manfred Eicher hat ein grandioses Gefühl für Hall und Raum. Und Garbareks Saxophon-Ton ist live noch schöner als auf den Studioalben.
Welf Grombacher, Freie Presse
So this is the ultimate record of their collaboration, a potentially final document of the union they achieved. At its best Garbarek’s saxophone became a fifth voice in the ensemble. It opens the concert with ‘Ov zarmanali,’ exploring the massive acoustic reverberation of the Swiss church which hosted the concerts before being joined by a gentle pillow of wordless vocals. […] ‘Allting finns’ is the first of two Garbarek compositions, along with ‘We Are The Stars,’ which Garbarek first recorded with a choir on his album ‘Rites’ (ECM, 1998). Both are a perfect stylistic fit with the more traditional music in the program. Garbarek’s compositional voice blends just as effortlessly as his instrumental one. Contemporary Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s ‘Most Holy Mother Of God’ is performed by the Hilliards alone. Garbarek sneaks in on the final chord, leading directly into the anonymous early music of ‘Procedentum sponsum.’ Other highlights include Pérotin’s ‘Alleluia nativitas,’ which features a very modern-sounding saxophone solo over a repeated vocal vamp, and Hildegard von Bingen’s ‘O ignis spiritus,’ which finds Garbarek weaving around the polyphony of the voices. No doubt fans of the previous collaborations will want this one, and it is also an excellent introduction.
Mark Sullivan, All About Jazz
Das Album ist ein tief bewegendes und überaus willkommenes Dokument der mehr als eintausend Konzerte, die diese Gruppe in zwanzig gemeinsamen Jahren in Kirchen, Klostern und ähnlichen Orten gab. Garbareks Einsätze hier sind zurückhaltender und von längeren Pausen gezeichnet als auf den anderen Alben des ‘Officium’-Zyklus, doch die Kraft und die emotionale Wirkung, die von seinem freien, von der nordischen Volksmusik geprägten Ton ausgeht, ist auch nach Jahrzehnten nach wie vor eine intensive Erfahrung.
Ingo J. Biermann, Nordische Musik
Garbarek has enjoyed immense success improvising alongside the British vocal quartet the Hilliard Ensemble. It’s striking how irreverent he can be. His soprano sax draws the blues out of the 12th-century organum ‘Alleluia Nativitas’, cuts a celtic caper to the Russian orthodox hymn ‘Dostoino est’ and puts a little ‘Careless Whipsper’ into ‘Agnus dei’. For all that, it’s a spellbinding blend.
Chris Pearson, The Times
Anyone who heard this combination live will regard this as a more than fitting memento of some special very concerts […] The album, just as the farewell performances themselves did, ends with the wistful emotional punch of the 16th century Scots ‘Remember Me, My Dear’ – the closing applause a fitting tribute to a 21-year cross-genre partnership that captured hearts and minds across the world.
Alyn Shipton, Jazzwise
The way the group and Garbarek interacts is fascinating. In some pieces, such as the anonymous Procurans odium, the repetitive vocals form a base for Garbarek’s free flowing improvisation, having established the vocal part first it then becomes more an accompaniment than partner. Yet in others, such as Garbarek’s own Allting finns, Garbarek’s soprano saxophone simply forms a top line over the others to create a five-part texture. Perotin’s busy Alleluia nativitas with its long melismatic passages is quite a surprise as Garbarek is able to join the four voices and craft a fifth line. The final way they interact is that Garbarek’s improvisations come at pause points in the music, in effect creating a dialogue. […] for those who are already admirers and converts, there is plenty to enjoy on this disc and it forms a fitting conclusion to the Hilliard’s journey. […] ‘Officium’ was a live experience, each venue was different, each time the interaction between the Hilliard Ensemble and Garbarek would be different, and this recording catches it on the wing.
Robert Hugill, Planet Hugill
This album is their last together, as The Hilliard Ensemble has since disbanded. And because it was recorded in a church, the sound is echoey and diffuse, qualities that help Garbarek, playing soprano, harmonize with the ensemble on a textural, as well as a harmonic level. The music certainly casts a spell, beginning with Garbarek’s haunting solo introduction on ‘Ov Zarmanali’, the first track.
Matthew Kassel, Downbeat
The version of ‘Litany’ by Russian composer Nikolay Kedrov is particularly beautiful, with sonorous saxophone flourishes soaring above the celestial voices. While there is drama and intensity, the expansive set fashions a calming, pensive mood in what’s an exquisite offering.
Ian Sinclair, Morning Star
The way one piece echoes the last or pre-echoes the next is the stuff of creative genius and makes each of ECM’s four programmes eternally durable. On the penultimate track, ‘Agnus Dei’, Garbarek roams into the far distance then doubles back to join The Hilliards in an intimate musical embrace for the closing ‘Remember me, my dear’, from which the album takes its name. And while as a rule this latest collection (14 tracks in all) promotes a unique brand of quiet piety, there are exceptions, not least Pérotin’s gaily skipping ‘Alleluia nativitas’ and an especially challenging rendition of Hildegard’s ‘O ignis spiritus’, which seems to reflect the painful image: ‘Holy are you, cleansing the festering wounds.’ […] this beautifully engineered disc concludes a four-album trans-millennial tale that helped define meaningful music for a generation. It ‘crosses over’ while maintaining integrity on both sides of the divide and deserves to reach the widest possible audience.
Rob Cowan, Gramophone
In dem vielfältigen Repertoire begegnen sich die Genres oft auf überraschende Weise. So erklingt das um 1200 von Perotin komponierte ‘Alleluia nativitas’ fast wie ein swingender Gospel. Eine Aufnahme, die mehrfaches Hören lohnt.
Andreas Schneider, Jazzthetik
