ECM New Series 1504
Playing time: 77'15
Recorded January 1993
Stadtkirche Gönningen
www.ecmrecords.com
The Hilliard Ensemble
| 1. | Exordium quadruplate / Nate dei / Concrepet / Verbum caro Anonymous | [1:45] |
| 2. | Tria sunt munera / Videntes stellam / Reges Tharsis Anonymous | [1:24] |
| 3. | In natali domini Anonymous | [2:34] |
| 4. | Sophia nascitur / O quam pulchra / Magi videntes Anonymous | [1:37] |
| 5. | Congaudemus pariter Anonymous | [1:39] |
| 6. | Magnum miraculum Anonymous | [2:43] |
| 7. | Nobis est natus Anonymous | [2:29] |
| 8. | Salve mater gracie Anonymous | [2:05] |
| 9. | Christus iam surrexit / Terra tremuit / Angelus domini / Surrexit Christus Anonymous | [1:10] |
| 10. | Presulem ephebeatum Petrus de Grudencz (c 1400-1480) | [3:29] |
| 11. | Paraneuma eructemus Petrus de Grudencz | [1:14] |
| 12. | Presidiorum erogatrix Petrus de Grudencz | [3:26] |
| 13. | Pneuma eucaristiarum / Veni vere illustrator / Dator eya / Paraclito tripudia Petrus de Grudencz | [3:17] |
| 14. | Terrigenarum plasmator Anonymous | [4:08] |
| 15. | Pulcherrima rosa Anonymous | [1:44] |
| 16. | Chorus iste Johannes Touront (fl c 1450-1480) | [2:21] |
| 17. | Bud' buohu chvála cest Gontrásek (fl late C15) | [2:28] |
| 18. | O virens virginum Alexander Agricola (c 1446-1506) | [2:01] |
| 19. | Kyrie Petite Camusette Anonymous | [2:57] |
| 20. | Gloria Petite Camusette Anonymous | [6:01] |
| 21. | Tota pulchra es John Plummer (c 1410-c 1484) | [4:48] |
| 22. | Credo Petite Camusette Anonymous | [5:55] |
| 23. | Ave pura tu puella Anonymous | [3:19] |
| 24. | Sanctus Petite Camusette Anonymous | [7:09] |
| 25. | Ave Maria Josquin Desprez (1440-1521) | [5:28] |
David James
Rogers Covey-Crump
John Potter
Gordon Jones
What century are we in? You may ask that when you hear the first 10 seconds of this very unusual recording of music "from a Prague manuscript c. 1500." Strange, too, is the title, which is the name of this "special songbook," one of the oldest surviving collections of Czech renaissance polyphony. The attention-getting opening piece is an example of a multiple-texted motet in which several sets of words are sung at the same time. But the textual chaos of this anonymous work is quickly followed by more refined works--the familiar "In natali domini," the haunting "Magnum miraculum," the exquisitely tender "Salve mater gracie," and the heartbreakingly beautiful "Presidiorum erogatrix," to name only four of many. Some of the pieces here are original Czech works; others are "imported" from well-known European composers, such as Josquin and Agricola. The four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble submit for our approval another of their trademark flawless performances--and leave us with only one choice: we have to have it. --David Vernier