The Hilliard Ensemble

Of all the styles Orlande de Lassus could write in and he was poly-stylistic before Schnittke coined the term the one he may have used least often was the severe style of conservative Catholicism. But Lassus was as supremely skilled in writing austere modal counterpoint as Palestrina and his Missa pro defunctis is as lucidly linear and as darkly luminous as Palestrina's own.

Tigran Mansurian's music is rooted in Armenian folk and church music filtered through contemporary Europeans, especially Bartók. In many respects he resembles other post-Soviet composers like Schnittke and Svirdov, sharing their combination of elusiveness and accessibility. Kim Kashkashian has long championed his works, and the outstanding violist is superb here. She's the center of gravity in the Viola Concerto, titled "…and then I was in time again," a quote from Faulkner and resembling his stream-of-consciousness style. The complex interplay of soloist and 18 strings fascinates, the two going their own ways and coming together again in unpredictable fashion but always to expressive effect. It's in two movements, the first more dramatic, the second poignant. In Lachrymae,.. –Dan Davis

Fearlessly searching for new conceptions of sound and not caring where he found them, Garbarek joined hands with the classical early-music movement, improvising around the four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble. Now here was a radical idea guaranteed to infuriate both hardcore jazz buffs and the even more pristine more-authentic-than-thou folk in early music circles. Yet this unlikely fusion works stunningly well - and even more hearteningly, went over the heads of the purists and became a hit album at a time (1994) when Gregorian chants were a hot item. Chants, early polyphonic music, and Renaissance motets by composers like Morales and Dufay form the basic material, bringing forth a cool yet moving spirituality in Garbarek's work…

Bach’s choral oeuvre has marked an obvious gap in the huge repertoire of the Hilliard Ensemble which ranges from Perotinus Magnus to contemporary composition. Now the four singers – enhanced by four additional voices to form a soloist double choir – present their a-cappella-readings of Johann Sebastian Bach’s wonderful motets, fascinating us once again with their seamless blend of sound and unique intonation.

In Paradisum combines music from three sources: the Officium Defunctorum of Victoria, polyphony by Palestrina and Gregorian chant from a 17th century manuscript. Placing the work of the Spanish and Italian religious composers in a historically authentic context, the Hilliard Ensemble also give us a sense of the overwhelming musical experience that the Catholic Mass was at the time of the Renaissance.

Long-awaited third album from one of the most touching and magical sound combinations in music today: Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek with Britain's premier vocal group, The Hilliard Ensemble. The first album, Officium, has sold nearly 1.5 million copies, and it is still in the charts as one of the top 20 best-selling classical albums of the past decade, well after its 1994 release.