Oxford Domino

Eustache du Caurroy is one of the unacknowledged masters of French Renaissaice polyphony whose works are rarely performed, due in part to the general lack of accessible or reliable editions. The majority of his compositions were for liturgical use - probably at the French Royal Court during the reigns of the successive monarchs Charles IX, Henri III and Henri IV. The motets recorded here illustrate two contrasting styles of vocal writing: imitative polyphony and 'musique mesurée', the former equating to the familiar, pan-European idiom of Palestrina and his later Renaissance contemporaries, the latter outlining protracted chord-against chord movement reflecting the natural stress-patterns of the words. The Missa pro Defunctis, the major work on this disc, was first performed at the funeral of Henri IV and remained for many years the official requiem sung at funerals of French monarchs.

Schutz’s Weinachtshistorie is a magnificent Christmas counterpart to the Passion, and one can perhaps understand that during his lifetime the composer would only permit musicians of a certain standard to perform it in its entirety. The present recording is in most respects excellent. The choir are on very good form, bright, perfectly tuned (listen to Intermedium II, “The Multitude”, for example, or the vigorous characterization of the Magi in Intermedium IV), the instrumental contributions are discreet but vigorous when necessary, and the soloists all good. Paul Agnew is, I feel, a little matter of fact at the beginning, but seems to warm up as the work progresses (always a dangerous thing to say since, for all one knows, the work may have been recorded entirely in reverse order, but that is the impression given).

Portuguese music enjoyed its most spectacular flowering in the early seventeenth century. Many of the greatest composers were gathered in the capital Lisbon, and this was a period when many Portuguese musicians also made their careers in Spain, which was then linked to Portugal politically. This recording presents masterpieces of Portuguese polyphony from Lisbon and Granada brought to light by the choir’s director, Owen Rees. The Lisbon composers represented are Duarte Lobo (chapelmaster at the Cathedral), Pedro de Cristo (chapelmaster at the Monastery of São Vicente), and Manuel Rodrigues Coelho (organist at the Royal Chapel).