Dufay: Mass for St Anthony Abbot

The Binchois Consort and Andrew Kirkman are now recognized as being the foremost interpreters of music by the father of polyphony that is Guillaume Dufay; their recordings of the Missa Puisque je vis and of Music for St Anthony of Padua were warmly received around the world, while the programme Music for St James the Greater won a Gramophone award.

This new disc addresses the second of Dufay’s ‘Anthony’ Masses, the one in honour of St Anthony Abbott. This is thought to be the long-lost, and long-sought, work known to have been bequeathed by Dufay to the great cathedral at Cambrai, always his spiritual home however far afield his astonishing international career took him.

Alongside Dufay’s masterpiece this disc offers three Mass movements and two motets by Dufay’s great contemporary Gilles Binchois. Primarily known as a composers of secular songs, Binchois’ large corpus of sacred music is gradually being unearthed—and meeting with the approbation it surely deserves. The eponymous composer would surely be grateful for these new performances.

CDA67474  70 minutes 47 seconds
‘These singers are superbly experienced in this kind of repertoire, and they thrill us with the supple lines of the Alleluia, the vigour of the Credo and the swirling counterpoint of the Sanctus  ...
‘This is exquisite, intricate music, and the Binchois Consort are ideal interpreters of its subtleties—and they're even more persuasive in the motets and Mass movements by their namesake’ (The Indepen ...
‘The Binchois Consort have by now established themselves as pre-eminent interpreters of Dufay's sacred music. Andrew Kirkman has an unfailing touch in matters of tempo, rhythm and vocal balance. The a ...