Palestrina: Missa Ad coenam Agni & Eastertide motets

The Brabant Ensemble, better known for uncovering works by forgotten composers such as Dominique de Phinot, turns to a giant of the Renaissance—perhaps the most celebrated name of the period. Yet within Palestrina’s huge output there are many hidden gems, lacking both recordings and modern performing editions, and it is from among these that the ensemble’s director Stephen Rice has chosen the repertoire for this album. A Mass—Missa Ad coenam Agni, from Palestrina’s first book of Mass-settings—is included, plus antiphons, motets and five Eastertide Offertories. Each work is, as Stephen Rice states in his typically informative booklet notes, ‘a finely crafted addition to the liturgy’.

The Brabant Ensemble brings a matchless blend of musicianship, scholarship and sensitive singing to this glorious music.

CDA67978  70 minutes 29 seconds
‘The quality of the works is such that their neglect in the discography is puzzling … the Brabants seem very much at home here’ (Gramophone)
‘The singers enliven the texture with their nuanced renderings of the marvellous contrapuntal connections, and the recording makes the most of the double-choir effects in the final section’ (BBC Music ...
‘Eastertide offertories, antiphons and motets from the master of Renaissance counterpoint. The spirited Surrexit pastor bonus, its accompanying antiphon Regina caeli and the gradual H ...