Josquin to Martin
A miscellany spanning High and Late Renaissance motets and nineteenth- and twentieth-century sacred works, drawn from Ensemble Gombert’s first European tour in 2004. The programme was chosen to complement Hommage à Gombert, then in production, with Gombert, Lassus and Monteverdi.
Nicolas Gombert composer
Philippe de Monte composer
William Byrd composer
Johannes Brahms composer
Frank Martin composer
Directed by John O’Donnell, the Melbourne choir sets Renaissance motets by Josquin, Gombert, de Monte and Byrd beside Brahms’s Drei Motetten, Op. 110, and Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir.
The selection reflects the tour programme rather than a single historical period, pairing early polyphony with later sacred writing for double choir.
Artists
Ensemble Gombert
Ensemble Gombert is Melbourne’s outstanding chamber choir, noted for its pure intonation and historic approach to choral sound and style. Named after Nicolas Gombert (c. 1495–1560), it specialises in a cappella Franco-Flemish music of the High Renaissance.
Josquin des Prez
Josquin des Prez shaped Renaissance vocal polyphony into something keenly expressive: independent voices that imitate, answer and lock around the text. Masses, motets and chansons still sound alive in the throat.
John O'Donnell
John O’Donnell, Director of Ensemble Gombert, studied at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music in Sydney and at the University of Durham. After performing Bach’s complete organ works in 1974, he built an international reputation as an organist and harpsichordist.
Audio preview
Tracks
Josquin Desprez (c.1450–1521)
Ave Maria
Inviolata, integra et casta es
Benedicta es, caelorum Regina
Nicolas Gombert (c.1495–1560)
Regina caeli laetare
Philippe de Monte (1521–1603)
Super flumina Babylonis
William Byrd (1543–1623)
Quomodo cantabimus?
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Drei Motetten, Opus 110
Ich aber bin elend
Ach, arme Welt
Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein
Frank Martin (1890–1974)
Mass for Double Choir
Performers
- Ensemble Gombert
- John O'Donnell · director
Composers
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period. His music for piano, chamber ensemble, orchestra, and voice remains central to the concert repertoire.
William Byrd
William Byrd wrote English Renaissance polyphony that still defines the choral repertory: Latin motets of fierce concentration, three Masses of luminous restraint, Anglican services and anthems, plus keyboard and consort music of dancing invention.
Nicolas Gombert
Nicolas Gombert wrote dense, closely imitative sacred polyphony at the height of the Franco-Flemish style: masses, motets and Magnificat settings in continuous textures that favour lower voices and bold cross-relations.
Where to listen
Josquin to Martin is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MCD 277
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Musical work
copyright - © Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ Move Records
- Categories
- Baroque, Choral
- Genres
- Choral & Sacred, Early Music
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574027723
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