“It’s one of very few discs of this repertoire I’ve been happy to play in its entirety, and then several times since. This is in part a tribute to Gombert … but also to The Brabant Ensemble and Stephen Rice … by encouraging an
unusually individual and carefully balanced vocal response, he avoids the pitfalls of relentless consistency and arrided elision … there is a welcome and (in this music) novel belief in the power of voices as voices … try the sopranos halfway through Hortus conclusus es for erotic Mariolatry at its
most disconcertingly sensual. Arise, make haste, as they sing, and hear this music” Gramophone Magazine
“These 10 motets are notable for their richly glowing sonorities, their disciplined counterpoints, their intensity of expression and, most of all, their careful tailoring of music to text. There’s the darkly erotic
intensity of Hortus conclusus es, the angst-ridden, pentitential Tribulatio et angustia … the singing is meticulously balanced and blended, Stephen Rice shaping and pacing each work with exquisite judgement” Sunday Times
“The Brabant Ensemble’s exploration of the “forgotten generation” of composers between Josquin and Palestrina is reviving an abundance of unwarrantedly neglected sacred polyphony. Judging by this splendid selection
of motets, Gombert’s neglect is particularly flagrant. In penitential pieces, such as Aspice Domine and Tribulatio et angustia, his lavish use of dissonance within a smooth-flowing yet intricately imitative style creates an atmosphere of almost unbearably intense and bitter anguish, whether contemplating
a city laid waste or beseeching rescue from a foetid quagmire … these shapely and well-paced performances do full justice to Gombert’s outstanding talent” Daily Telegraph
Gramophone Awards 2008
Gramophone Magazine