Despres: O bone et dulcissime Jesu

‘An excellent and intriguing anthology….wonderfully sung…containing some of Josquin’s greatest music’ Gramophone

Recording made in 1999.

The earliest mention of Josquin is as a singer in Aix en Provence in 1475. In a short time he would gain a reputation for being the leading composer of the period. He was the first to have his works published, and such was his reputation that many lesser composers passed their music off as being by Josquin some with considerable success.

He was born in 1450 in what today is Belgium, but then was part of the Netherlands. At this period, the Flemish region was a powerhouse for both music and art, and many of its masters travelled widely throughout Europe shaping the artistic agenda for many centuries to follow. Josquin was typical of these much-travelled artistic and cultural envoys. He worked extensively in Italy, at the court in Ferrara, and for the powerful Sforza family in Milan. During his Italian years he met the humanist and writer Angelo Poliziano, and this had a profound effect upon his compositional style. The importance of shaping a composition around the text, giving the words greater impact. Hitherto composers had paid scant attention to the structure of words and syllables, bending and stretching them to suit the melodic line. Josquin combined his mastery of setting words to music with extraordinary displays of contrapuntal genius as can be heard on this CD in the motet Ut Phoebe.

All of his settings are from Biblical or liturgical sources.

A celebration of the pioneering early music label Archiv, offering 55CDs ranged across the label’s entire 66-year history. Beautiful presentation, original jacket sleeves and documentation to the customary high standards of the label.

In more ways than one, 2013 will be an Archiv Produktion year. The beloved Silver Label – the “Early Music Studio of Deutsche Grammophon”, as it was called for many years – is being revived in a big way, both in frontline and catalogue. In early April 2013 an event in Berlin is being held to mark this relaunch. New albums from choral group Tenebrae, Anna Prohaska and Giuliano Carmignola are being released in the first quarter to coincide with this occasion.

Simple, striking and strong: in gleaming silver with the large blue Archiv Logo embossed on all sides. A large onsert on the top and back of the box details contents and is illustrated with a packshot showing contents.

Original Jackets: starting with the austere yellow covers of the 1940s and 1950s gradually giving way to the great historical illustrations and images that featured up to the 1990s, when artists at last began to make an appearance (there were no artist photos in the 1950s!)

The 180-page full-colour book has articles by journalist Nicholas Anderson, and “memoirs” by former directors of Archiv, Prof. Andreas Holschneider and Dr. Peter Czornyj, and Executive Producer, Marita Prohmann.

The book features many rare photos from Archiv recording sessions, as well as other memorabilia.