Josquin Des Prez

The popular 15th-century tune L'homme armé became the basis of at least 31 Masses over two centuries. Josquin wrote two Mass settings using the melody as a cantus firmus (sung in long note-values in one voice, usually the tenor). Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales begins the tune a tone higher in each succeeding movement; its texture is dense, with the four voices' ranges constantly overlapping. Missa L'homme armé sexti toni is more transparent, with the four voices' ranges spaced widely and sections for reduced voices numerous; its extraordinary final Agnus Dei à 6 plays two paired canons in the four upper parts against the cantus firmus in the lower voices–one singing it forwards, one backwards. The magical effect is often compared to the music of Philip Glass.

The popular 15th-century tune L'homme armé became the basis of at least 31 Masses over two centuries. Josquin wrote two Mass settings using the melody as a cantus firmus (sung in long note-values in one voice, usually the tenor). Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales begins the tune a tone higher in each succeeding movement; its texture is dense, with the four voices' ranges constantly overlapping. Missa L'homme armé sexti toni is more transparent, with the four voices' ranges spaced widely and sections for reduced voices numerous; its extraordinary final Agnus Dei à 6 plays two paired canons in the four upper parts against the cantus firmus in the lower voices–one singing it forwards, one backwards. The magical effect is often compared to the music of Philip Glass.

The popular 15th-century tune L'homme armé became the basis of at least 31 Masses over two centuries. Josquin wrote two Mass settings using the melody as a cantus firmus (sung in long note-values in one voice, usually the tenor). Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales begins the tune a tone higher in each succeeding movement; its texture is dense, with the four voices' ranges constantly overlapping. Missa L'homme armé sexti toni is more transparent, with the four voices' ranges spaced widely and sections for reduced voices numerous; its extraordinary final Agnus Dei à 6 plays two paired canons in the four upper parts against the cantus firmus in the lower voices–one singing it forwards, one backwards. The magical effect is often compared to the music of Philip Glass.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Milan Cathedral acted as a magnet to many of the finest composers of the time. Yet the Cathedral's maestro di cappella for almost thirty years, Hermann Matthias Werrecore, is almost completely unknown to us today.

A composer admired by his contemporaries, Josquin Desprez (ca 1450-1521) was a solitary artist who sublimated in his chansons the melancholy character and the elegance emblematic of the Renaissance. For their first recording, Dulces Exuviae explore the intimacy of these chansons in a fresh light: the sweet melodies are embellished by ornaments and accompanied on the lute, leaving ample room for improvisation, and thus allowing music to come out all the more alive, delicate and filled with emotion. The ensemble Dulces Exuviae is baritone Romain Bockler and lutenist Bor Zuljan.

Rebecca Stewart together with the vocal ensemble Seconda Pract!ca explores the music of Josquin Desprez and his contemporaries Brumel and Willaert, commemorating the 500th anniversary of his death. The central piece of this recording is the famous Missa Mater patris by Josquin. Founded in 2012 by international musicians gathered in The Netherlands for their studies, Seconda Prat!ca has become one of the leading ensembles of the new generation of early music performers. The ensemble’s main goal is to bridge the gaps between performers and audience, revitalizing western musical heritage by bringing it back to a shared living experience.

The Tallis Scholars are hands down the most difficult performing ensemble in the world to review. The reason is simple - they have been around for so many years and have produced such a consistent and high quality product, both on record and in the concert hall, that there is simply little to say about them anymore except "bring it on!"

Tallis Scholars are among the world's preeminent choral ensembles. Cultivating a distinctive vocal sound backed by impeccable scholarship, the group has helped raise the general level of interest in Renaissance choral music in Britain and beyond through a large catalog of recordings and numerous international tours.

Josquin was one of the greatest composers of his time, the author of sacred and secular music and works for court and city. The ensemble Theleme and Jean-Christophe Groffe offer a bold and original interpretation of some of Josquin's songs. Combining the language of the Renaissance with very different sounds - ondes Martenot, Fender Rhodes piano, Buchla synthesizer - they create a lively and astonishingly fertile dialogue, in keeping with the spirit of the composer. Five hundred years after his death, this album pays tribute to a groundbreaking composer, whose innovations inspire us to this day.

Josquin des Prez - Music in the Sistine Chapel around 1490 - Cut Circle (2012) {2CD Set, Musique en Wallonie MEW 1265-1266}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 653 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 358 Mb
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© 2012 Musique En Wallonie ‎| MEW 1265-1266
Classical / Reneissance / Sacred / Mass

Аeatures sacred music by Renaissance composers living and working in Rome. Offers new interpretations of music by Josquin des Prez, including his famous Missa L’homme armé super voces musicales. Presents premiere recordings of works by Marbrianus de Orto, Gaspar van Weerbeke, and other scandalously understudied late fifteenth-century singer-composers employed in the newly built chapel of Pope Sixtus IV. In a space that overlooked frescoes by Botticelli and Perugino, they gathered around enormous choirbooks to sing one another’s masses, motets, and hymns. Cut Circle’s recording aims to capture the soundscape of the Sistine Chapel as Josquin knew it.