The Spy's Choirbook
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Antoine de Févin, Anonymous, Pierquin de Thérache, Johannes Ghiselin, Jean Mouton, Pierre de La Rue, Alexander Agricola, Josquin Desprez, Franciscus Strus, Heinrich Isaac
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Obsidian Records
Magazine Review Date: 01/2015
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 115
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CD712
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Celeste beneficium |
Jean Mouton, Composer
Alamire Jean Mouton, Composer |
Adiutorium nostrum |
Antoine de Févin, Composer
Alamire Antoine de Févin, Composer |
Nesciens mater |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Ave regina caelorum |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Alamire Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Descendi in hortum meum |
Josquin Desprez, Composer
Alamire Josquin Desprez, Composer |
Sancta trinitas unus Deus |
Antoine de Févin, Composer
Alamire Antoine de Févin, Composer |
Vexilla regis |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Alamire Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Fama, malum |
Josquin Desprez, Composer
Alamire Josquin Desprez, Composer |
Doleo super te |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Alamire Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Domine Jesu Christe |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Maxsimilla Christo amabilis |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Sancta Maria succurre miseris/O werder mondt |
Franciscus Strus, Composer
Alamire Franciscus Strus, Composer |
Sancta et immaculata virginitas |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Missus est Gabriel angelus |
Josquin Desprez, Composer
Alamire Josquin Desprez, Composer |
Dulcissima virgo Maria |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Tota pulcra es amica mea |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Sancta Maria virgo |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Verbum bonum et suave |
Pierquin de Thérache, Composer
Alamire Pierquin de Thérache, Composer |
Recordamini quomondo praedixit filium |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
O beatissime Domine Iesu Christe/Fac me de tua gratia ut |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Ave sanctissima Maria |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Ecce Maria genuit nobis |
Jean Mouton, Composer
Alamire Jean Mouton, Composer |
Congratulamini mihi omnes |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Egregie Christi martir Christophore |
Antoine de Févin, Composer
Alamire Antoine de Févin, Composer |
Alma redemptoris mater |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Dulces exuviae |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Dulces exuviae dum fata deusque |
Johannes Ghiselin, Composer
Alamire Johannes Ghiselin, Composer |
Absalon fili mi |
Josquin Desprez, Composer
Alamire Josquin Desprez, Composer |
Iesus autem transiens |
Anonymous, Composer
Alamire Anonymous, Composer |
Anima mea liquefacta est Invenerunt me/Filiae Ierusalem |
Heinrich Isaac, Composer
Alamire Heinrich Isaac, Composer |
Tribulatio et angustia invenerunt me |
Josquin Desprez, Composer
Alamire Josquin Desprez, Composer |
Author: David Fallows
Almost 50 choirbooks now survive from the copying workshop of Petrus Alamire, who happens to have been active as a political informer alongside his more upfront activities as a singer, composer and music copyist. The lovely choirbook in the British Library has Henry VIII’s coat of arms on the first motet, and David Skinner here proposes that it was a personal gift from Alamire to the king in about 1516 – though nobody has yet convincingly contradicted Honey Meconi’s carefully argued proposal (1998) that it was a diplomatic gift from Margaret of Austria at the end of Henry VIII’s French campaign of June to October 1513.
Either way, what we have here is a complete recording of the entire choirbook in its manuscript order: 34 four-voice motets from the first decade of the century by French and Franco-Flemish composers, giving a magnificent panorama of the repertory. Most of them have never been recorded before.
Most of the music is performed by the mixed voices alone, a small group sounding gorgeous throughout. For a few particularly grand motets they are joined by the wind players, who perform alone in five of the pieces. But perhaps the main thrill is the sequence of five settings of Dido’s last speech from the Aeneid, Dulces exuvie, by La Rue (possibly), Agricola, Josquin, Mouton and Ghiselin, then immediately followed by one of the most haunting motets of all time, Absalon fili mi, ascribed elsewhere to Josquin but now widely believed to be by Pierre de la Rue.
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
SubscribeGramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.