SACDs - Despres

While the latter half of the sixteenth century saw the first stirrings of the Baroque, this period also witnessed the creation of the finest cathedrals in sound, with their foundations in the distant Gothic era of music ... Composers vied with each other in daring and ingenuity, presenting works with twelve, sixteen, twenty-four and even, in the case of Tallis’s famous Spem in alium, forty different voices! The Huelgas Ensemble celebrates its thirty-fifth anniversary with a spectacular selection of these works, recorded live without a ‘safety net’.

This beautiful set gathers for the first time Spanish and French instrumental dances from the XVIth and XVIIth Centuries scattered as 'interludes' in many Astrée and Alia Vox existing releases. It is a definitive overview of this repertoire and enables us to realise just how beautiful and irresistible this music can be. Given electric performances and virile repertoire, the Royal Minstrels offer uplifting experiences. Deluxe packaging and beautiful artwork as you would expect from Alia Vox…

Booklet: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Catalan

The four members of New York Polyphony here present a programme which explores the themes of grief, loss and mortality.

Apart from the work by Jackson Hill on Guillaume de Machaut’s famous 14th century rondeau Ma fin… and two examples of plainsong, all works included on this disc, the ensemble’s first on BIS, were composed by masters of the Franco-Flemish school of polyphony from the first half of the 16th century.

Most of this music was partly used liturgically: the two Gregorian chants Libera me and In paradisum both form part of the Roman Catholic burial service

New York Polyphony was formed in 2006 and is establishing a reputation as an exceptionally fine vocal chamber ensemble.

Setting off on a sonic journey through Europe, Gregorio Paniagua and his acclaimed ensemble Atrium Musicæ de Madrid took the famous theme known as La Spagna, used widely by composers across Europe for several centuries, as the starting point in their quest to bring to life the many and varied old scores that used this themes.

In their recording, the ensemble used a huge range of instruments, from clavicytherium (a ‘vertical harpsichord’) to a simple plastic cup, and the vivid performances and no less vivid recording enchanted both early music fans and audiophiles.

This is the first re-edition of the entire programme from this legendary 1980 recording.