A musical journey through Renaissance Europe via pieces that were highly popular and whose melodies were reused and varied by some of the best composers of the time.

Ludwig Daser's life and work encompassed both Catholic and Lutheran courts, at Munich and Stuttgart respectively. Cinquecento's program-which, besides the substantial Missa Pater noster, includes a selection of Latin motets and German chorale settings-illustrates a variety of styles and genres from both, offering a welcome introduction to this lesser-known master from the sixteenth century.

Cambridges renowned Trinity College Choir, conducted by Richard Marlow, is heard in a 6-CD compilation of acclaimed Renaissance and early Baroque recordings. In the compositions by Lassus, Victoria, Praetorius, Sweelinck, Monteverdi and Schutz heard here, Gramophone has praised the choirs superb discipline fresh and natural voices as well as Marlows astute and imaginative direction His sensitivity and responsiveness are tireless.

This compilation includes selected works by the noted Renaissance composer Ludwig Senfl, who was an important student of Heinrich Isaac. In 1523 Senfl joined the Munich court orchestra at the court of Maximilian I, where he worked until his death.

In the Revelation of James, an apocryphal gospel that was not included in the Bible, events and details surrounding the birth of Christ are reported that do not appear in the better-known versions of the Christmas story from the gospels of Matthew and Luke. In particular, it portrays very real people, full of emotions and conflicting feelings. Mary, not Jesus, is the focus of the narrative.

Tout comme Roland de Lassus qui oeuvra à Munich, Alexander Utendal (1543-1581) fait partie de ces compositeurs franco-flamands qui s'en allèrent mettre leur art au service de cours germaniques: né à Gand, il fut en effet au service des Habsbourg à Vienne, Innsbruck et Prague. Ce CD de l'excellent ensemble Romanesque permet de découvrir deux facettes de son art: des chansons profanes, les unes en français et les autres en allemand, ce qui leur donne immédiatement des couleurs différentes, plus poétiques d'un côté, plus grivoises de l'autre. Interprétation très vivante de la soprano Kathelijne Van Laethem, rejointe occasionnellement par la basse Stephan Mc Leod.

Renaissance polyphony is generally held to be stately, calm, reassuring. But this pro- gramme of Palestrina’s six-part Missa sine nomine, complemented by five of his motets and three by Marc’Antonio Ingegneri (c. 1535/36–92), was recorded after the Choir of Girton College, Cambridge, had undertaken a tour of Israel and Palestine. There the music and its texts (‘How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?’) took on an extraordinary poignancy, with the dispossession and desperation of thousands of years ago animating the restrained dignity of Palestrina’s counterpoint with an unexpectedly topical intensity.

Born in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, Antoine Gosswin was recruited at a very young age by the Bavarian court chapel, where he was in frequent contact with Orlando di Lasso and accompanied the Emperor Maximilian II on his travels. Esteemed as a singer and composer, he was also part of the violin band employed by Duke Albert V at the legendary wedding of Prince William in 1568. Gosswin would go on to conduct the chapel of Prince Ernest, Bishop of Freising and later of Liège, to whom he dedicated his Newe teutsche Lieder. Extremely prolific, Gosswin produced several masses and motets as well as madrigals and German songs in which he continued the musical developments initiated by his master Lasso.

Discover the music of Heinrich Isaac with these authentic performances from La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Hespèrion XXI under the inspired direction of early music specialist Jordi Savall. This program paints a portrait of an era during which the Hundred Year's War ended, the Medici family reached its peak, the idea of the Reformation surged and Charles V was crowned at the head of an Empire that redefined the idea of Europe.

This imaginatively-curated, generously-filled Christmas package is sure to find favor during this and future holiday seasons. Why? Because it packs in every conceivable carol, tune, choral work or song in timeless performances from the greatest artists in the world: singers of immense communicative gifts including Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming and Luciano Pavarotti to name but four. It truly offers something of every Christmas mind, spirit, and looks fantastic.

Following on from and designed along the same lines as the Guide to Period Instruments, this boxed set includes an exhaustive introductory text as well as a great quantity of music excerpts on the set’s eight CDs. These extracts have been taken from the extensive repertoire recorded by Ricercar over many years, with excerpts from recordings kindly provided by our colleagues from Harmonia Mundi, Gimell, Accent, Alpha and Sony supplementing our programme where necessary. The Lutheran repertoire of the Renaissance has remained for all intents and purposes unrecorded up until now; the tracks illustrating this repertoire together with other excerpts have been recorded specially for this compilation by Vox Luminis.

This compilation includes selected works by the noted Renaissance composer Ludwig Senfl, who was an important student of Heinrich Isaac. In 1523 Senfl joined the Munich court orchestra at the court of Maximilian I, where he worked until his death. Singer Pur will perform these pieces at their Singer Pur Tage festival, and at the 2023 Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference in Munich.

Two substantial Mass settings, sounding here as though Regnart might have written them specifically for the glorious voices of Cinquecento: this is a welcome contribution to the restoration of an important but still under-appreciated figure.

Jérôme Lejeune continues his History of Music series with this boxed set devoted to the Renaissance. The next volume in the series after Flemish Polyphony (RIC 102), this set explores the music of the 16th century from Josquin Desprez to Roland de Lassus. After all of the various turnings that music took during the Middle Ages, the music of the Renaissance seems to be a first step towards a common European musical style. Josquin Desprez’s example was followed by every composer in every part of Europe and in every musical genre, including the Mass setting, the motet and all of the various new types of solo song. Instrumental music was also to develop considerably from the beginning of the 16th century onwards.