Die Cum Ex Files

The title Brazilian Adventures here isn't ideal: it refers more to the process by which the music was assembled than to the exclusively sacred compositions performed. But conductor Jeffrey Skidmore indeed had at least an intellectual adventure, visiting various Brazilian cities and consulting with local experts on unknown compositions from colonial Brazil that they had unearthed in their cities' archives. For his initiative in the rediscovery of completely unknown repertory Skidmore deserves major kudos: the space between the Renaissance and the late 19th century is an almost complete lacuna in the recorded repertory, at least outside Brazil.

Vox Iberica – Sequentia’s long-term project to record music from three of Spain’s most important musical sources – begins with music from the so-called Codex Calixtinus, a 12th century manuscript containing liturgical chant and polyphony in honour of Saint James the Apostle, otherwise known as Santiago, whose relics have been venerated by pilgrims since the Middle Ages in the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. For this recording, the eight men’s voices of Sequentia join to record the complete polyphony found in this magnificent collection of sacred music, including some of the earliest polyphony to be clearly notated in a European source.

The box contains 10 CDs and offers reference shots of all the central works such as the Psalms of David, the Cantiones sacrae, the Resurrection History, the Little Sacred Concerts, Choral Music and last but not least the Passions. The partly unpublished recordings show the Dresden Kreuzchor at the height of its development.

Le Poème Harmonique, one of the most important early music ensembles in France, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. For this occasion ALPHA CLASSICS has compiled twenty CDs from the catalogue in an attractively designed box. Award-winning recordings can be heard, some of them with an unusual repertoire from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. For loyal fans and those who want to become fans!