Josquin Desprez: Motets et Chansons

EMI Reflexe CDC 7 49209 2

Playing time: 50'35

Recorded: 14.-16.II.1983, Temple Church, London

www.emiclassics.com

The Hilliard Ensemble


1.	Ave Maria... Virgo serena Motet à quatre voix	[6:51]
2.	Absalon fili mi Motet à quatre voix	[4:27]
3.	Veni Sancte Spiritus Motet à six voix	[8:10]
4.	De profundis clamavi Motet à quatre voix	[8:24]
5.	Scaramella va alla guerra (a 4) & Loyset Compère (c1445–1518): Scaramella fa la galla (a 4)	[1:37]
6.	In te Domine speravi (a 4)	[2:15]
7.	El grillo (a 4)	[1:50]
8.	Mille regretz chanson à quatre voix	[2:03]
9.	Petite camusette chanson à six voix	[1:02]
10.	Je me complains chanson à cinq voix	[2:08]
11.	En l'ombre d'ung buissonet chanson à trois voix	[2:12]
12.	Je ne me puis tenir d'aimer chanson à cinq voix	[3:47]
13.	La déploration de Jehan Ockeghem (a 5) (Nimphes des bois)	[5:47]

David James, countertenor (1-13)
Ashley Stafford, countertenor (1, 4, 9)
Paul Elliott, tenor (1-13)
Leigh Nixon, tenor (1-10, 12, 13)
Rogers Covey-Crump, tenor (1, 3, 4, 10, 12, 13)
Nicholas Robertson, tenor (1, 4)
Paul Hillier, bass (1-13)
Michael George, bass (1, 3, 4, 9, 13)

The Hilliard Ensemble bathes these vital vocal works by Josquin in a Mediterranean light: clear, warm, and brilliant. Josquin was a northerner who, like so many other composers of the Renaissance, descended to Italy to pursue his career. The singers bring to life the composer's marriage of the Flemish preoccupation with technique and the southern instinct toward lyricism. This is an extraordinary disc. --Joshua Cody