St James the Greater, Apostle of Christ, foster son of the Virgin Mary, brother of St John the Evangelist, and indelibly—if somewhat perplexingly— associated with Compostela, became the focus of many composers; after all, anyone who was anyone in the Middle Ages (including Chaucer’s Wife of Bath) would make a pilgrimage to St James’s shrine in Spain at some point in their life. The exact background to Dufay’s Mass is as yet unknown but it is an enormous work (forty minutes plus) of great passion. Also included on this disc are three motets composed around the same time as the Mass, and a Gloria/Credo pairing, remarkable for up-beat, if irreverent, interpolations of snippets from Italian and French popular songs during the ‘Amens’.

‘This is Dufay as I have always wanted to hear him. [It] is as close to a perfect Dufay CD as I have ever heard … so utterly compelling is this recording that I can imagine it acquiring cult status’ (Gramophone)

“This disc still shines in the firmament of Dufay recordings. Deftly-shaped phrases, balanced between driving momentum and tranquillity, and decisiveness of interpretation justify this disc's re-issue.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 ****

Helios - CDH55272

(CD)

£5.49 (£4.67 ex. VAT)

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

Dufay - Music for St Anthony of Padua

Dufay:

MISSA DE S ANTHONII DE PADUA

O proles Hispaniae / O sidus Hispaniae

The Binchois Consort, Andrew Kirkman

‘A felicitous marriage of scholarship and first-rate musicianship’ (Soundscapes, Australia)

“The verve of this performance is striking. Kirkman masterfully draws out the diversity of styles and textures of this Mass through super-charged inflection and crispness of attacks and tempos.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 ****

Helios - CDH55271

(CD)

£5.49 (£4.67 ex. VAT)

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.