Sei Dein Eigenes Zuhause

Gesualdo is now known to have composed some of the most intensely expressive music ever written – and is also known for the lurid details of his private life. The French ensemble A Sei Voci has rich-toned voices which illuminate this extraordinary music; this release is among the ‘second generation’ of Gesualdo recordings following the pioneering work of the Deller Consort in the 1970s. Their success paved the way for wider recognition of Gesualdo’s genius in the 1990s.

This is a set of six previously-released CDs of mostly sacred music by Josquin and his contemporaries. Here you will also find music thought to be by Josquin and Johannes Martini, Eneas Dupré, Elzéar Genet Carpentras, and music (mis)attributed to them in various ways. It’s a splendid set – full of vigour and sophisticated music-making - and can be safely recommended.

The vocal ensemble A Sei Voci is based in the French city of Sablé-sur-Sarthe and was founded in 1977. The name, naturally, is so given as the group uniformly consists of six regular member voices, although other singers and instrumentalists are added as each project they undertake may require. A Sei Voci was founded with the purpose of recovering vocal works from the Baroque and Renaissance periods that were not yet revived or otherwise known to the public.

Gesualdo is now known to have composed some of the most intensely expressive music ever written – and is also known for the lurid details of his private life. The French ensemble A Sei Voci has rich-toned voices which illuminate this extraordinary music; this release is among the ‘second generation’ of Gesualdo recordings following the pioneering work of the Deller Consort in the 1970s. Their success paved the way for wider recognition of Gesualdo’s genius in the 1990s.

This 1994 disc is something of a classic of the new strain of the historical-performance movement, which is characterized by a certain amount of license to speculate in the reconstruction of lost works. The Miserere mei Deus of Gregorio Allegri is, of course, not a lost work, but one with an unbroken performance tradition stretching back to its composition in the early seventeenth century (before 1638). It was sung for centuries at the Sistine Chapel, where the singers were enjoined from circulating the music beyond Vatican walls. That prohibition wasn't enough to stop the 12-year-old Mozart, who wrote most of it down by ear as a tourist in Rome and filled in the gaps on a quick return visit; soon after that, British music writer Charles Burney got hold of either Mozart's copy (which hasn't survived) or another one and published the work.

Gesualdo is now known to have composed some of the most intensely expressive music ever written – and is also known for the lurid details of his private life. The French ensemble A Sei Voci has rich-toned voices which illuminate this extraordinary music; this release is among the ‘second generation’ of Gesualdo recordings following the pioneering work of the Deller Consort in the 1970s. Their success paved the way for a wider recognition of Gesualdo’s genius in the 1990s.