J. S. Scott

Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1420-1497) was one of the most celebrated musicians of the fifteenth century and one of the greatest composers of all time. He was every bit the equal of J.S. Bach in contrapuntal technique and profound expressivity, and like Bach able to combine the most rigorous intellectual structure with a beguiling sensuality. His two dozen songs set French lyric poetry in the courtly forms of his era—rondeau, virelai, and ballade—to exquisitely crafted polyphony in which all voices are granted equally beautiful and compelling melodies.

One year after winning the 2018 Gramophone Classical Music Award for Early Music for the fifth album in its series Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks, and just one month after releasing the world premiere recording of Cipriano de Rore’s I madrigali a cinque voci, Blue Heron announces the release of the first in a new series of recordings dedicated to the music of Johannes Ockeghem and his contemporaries. Johannes Ockeghem: Complete Songs, vol. 1 is the first of two releases which will present all of Ockeghem’s songs in a complete set; the second is planned for release in 2022. The songs have not been recorded complete since the early 1980s.

This harpsichord recital by Scott Ross was first broadcast on the French radio France Musique in 1986. It was only released on CD in 2009 by Diapason. In this recital, Scott Ross plays the Suite in E minor and the First Concert in C minor by Jean-Philipe Rameau, the 4th suite in D major by Johann Sebastian Bach and three sonatas (K215, K492 and K27) by Domenico Scarlatti.

2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of the harpsichordist and organist Scott Ross, who was just 38 years old when he died. This box brings together the harpsichord recordings he made for EMI and Erato, which are complemented by a selection of radio recordings: harpsichord and organ from Radio Canada, and harpsichord music from RTS (Swizerland) and INA (France). The lasts include a duet with his former teacher Huguette Grémy-Chauliac and chamber music with Christophe Coin and his Ensemble Mosaïque.