Description
We are delighted to present our fourth album, Josquin’s Legacy (2021).
About the CD
Courts in renaissance Italy were meeting places for some of the greatest musicians from across Europe. The Court at Ferrara became a leading centre: many of the Franco-Flemish school passed through its gates and perhaps the most notable of these is Josquin. Taking inspiration from Josquin’s 500th-anniversary year in 2021, this recording contextualises some of the ‘jewels in the crown’ of Italian Renaissance repertoire by tracing themes of pedagogy and patronage in northern Italy over 150 years.
Guy James © 2021
Reviews
“The central work, Josquin’s highly personal Nymphes des Bois, was composed in memory of the Franco-Flemish composer Ockeghem, whose own five-part setting to the Virgin Mary, Intemerata Dei mater, opens the album. Works by Jean Mouton, Adrian Willaert, Heinrich Isaac and others complete this impeccably performed recital. It’s hard to think it could be better sung.” – The Guardian (Fiona Maddocks)
“The Gesualdo Six are well-placed to record this music, they’re very good at looking around the repertoire… I love this particular anthology.
That countertenor sound – I mean it’s out of this world.” – BBC Radio 3 Record Review (Jeremy Summerly)
“This is an inventive piece of programming… Apart from the skill involved in assembling such a discriminating selection, it’s a clever way of introducing listeners to music that might otherwise pass them by.
[H]ad it been issued under a different title, in a year other than 2021, it would still be superb. The same goes for The Gesualdo Six’s singing. The decision to take the Ockeghem at an uncharacteristically high pitch is bold, and with a very bright countertenor on the top line the effect is luminous and transparent (dare I say magical?)…
[T]he performance of Absalon fili mi is simply jaw-dropping: beautifully controlled and restrained but intensely moving. The upper voice is taken by a high tenor, so that the bass goes down to low [Bb] (he might almost be Flemish, and for basses there’s no greater compliment).
…[A]s a single-disc introduction to the motet of Josquin’s time, this is hard to beat.” – Editor’s Choice, Gramophone Magazine November 2021 (Fabrice Fitch)
Tracklist
Ockeghem Intemerata Dei mater
Josquin Nymphes des bois
Compere Quis numerare queat
Brumel Tous les Regretz
Pierre de la Rue Absalon fili mi
Josquin Illibata Dei virgo nutrix
Févin Nesciens Mater
Mouton Qui ne regrettoit le gentil Févin
Willaert Infelix ego
Isaac Esto mihi
Josquin O virgo prudentissima
Josquin Tu solus, qui facis mirabilia
L’Héritier Miserere mei, Domine
