Pedro de Escobar’s polyphonic setting of the Requiem Mass is the earliest extant from the Iberian peninsula, and among the very few versions from the whole of Europe that may have been composed before 1500. It is thus a very important ‘document’ for the music historian, yet it remains an enigma: we do not know the occasion for which it was composed, nor for which institution. Certain factors – as yet unprovable – point to the death of Prince Juan, only son of Ferdinand and Isabella, and heir to the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile until his untimely, and much lamented, death in 1497. Escobar was, at that time, a singer in the Castilian royal chapel. A major study by Grayson Wagstaff of the Iberian Requiem in the sixteenth century has shed much light on other puzzling aspects of Escobar’s setting, both in terms of the texts set and the chants used, but to date the piece has refused to yield up all its secrets, even though it was first recorded as long ago as 1987 by Quodlibet for CRD.
This new recording by Ensemble Gilles Binchois does, however, take advantage of recent chant research by the Catalan scholar, Marius Bernardo, who also devised the reconstruction presented here (which includes pieces by Escobar’s contemporaries, Juan de Anchieta and Francisco de Penalosa). Indeed, the presentation of the two CDs neatly illustrates the change of emphasis in programming of music of this period in recent years, from the anthology of Escobar’s works recorded by Quodlibet to this hypothetical liturgical-context approach. There are, of course, advantages and disadvantages to both kinds of presentation, and the differences are heightened by the performances themselves. Ensemble Gilles Binchois, with two voices per part (except in the Tract), are more measured, adopting generally slower tempos and stressing the solemnity of the music with its unadorned chant in the upper voice fleshed out by the lower vocal lines which often move – albeit in general independently – in a similarly sustained fashion. The overall effect is appropriately lugubrious and austere despite the rich sonority achieved by the singers, who are aided by a resonant acoustic. By contrast, Quodlibet’s recording, with only one voice on each line, is noticeably more flexible in phrasing and more word-orientated, these qualities being emphasized by a drier acoustic that suggests the more intimate context of a small chapel.
Which version you prefer will much depend on personal taste; I remain very attached to Quodlibet’s account, but have to say that in many ways (both musicological and interpretative) it is superseded by that of Ensemble Gilles Binchois. Being able to compare the two recordings does, however, feel like a very welcome luxury and has served to convince me of the high quality of Escobar’s music which looks unpromising on the page but which in performance reveals its true worth. That not all the problems of this piece have been resolved even in this more recent version encourages me to think that one day there will be a third!'