Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA67933

Missa Tu es Petrus

composer
5vv
author of text
Ordinary of the Mass

The Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice (conductor)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
CD-Quality:
Studio Master:
Recording details: August 2011
The Church of St Michael and All Angels, Summertown, Oxford, United Kingdom
Produced by Antony Pitts
Engineered by Justin Lowe
Release date: June 2012
Total duration: 31 minutes 2 seconds

Cover artwork: Christ's Charge to Peter by Raphael (1483-1520)
Victoria & Albert Museum, London / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘This gorgeous album presents all the works for eight voices which are certainly attributable to Mouton, plus one for five and two for four voices … these pieces are refreshingly airy and transparent. Mouton's exquisite music and The Brabant Ensemble's graceful performances are well-served by Antony Pitts' production and the acoustic of St Michael and All Angels, Oxford … highly recommended’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘This outstanding disc by the youthful Brabant Ensemble, accomplished specialists in this repertoire … the Brabant's singing throughout is polished, flexible, lean and—exactly what you want here—transcendent’ (The Observer)

‘Mouton is given due attention and polish in these performances by The Brabant Ensemble. Such ingeniously structured pieces as the motet Nesciens mater are impressive in their richness of texture, and the main work, the Missa Tu es Petrus, deploys the voices in expressively fluent counterpoint’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘The lucidity of both The Brabant Ensemble's singing and Rice's direction is hugely accomplished … [Missa Tu es Petrus is] a work of radiance and clarity … strikingly well sung … Hyperion is still setting the standard in this infinitely rewarding repertory’ (International Record Review)
Fifteen complete Mass-settings by Mouton survive, of which Missa Tu es Petrus is the only one not in four parts. Here a cantus firmus has four additional parts composed around it, making five in all. The cantus firmus is set unusually high in the texture. Indeed, in the Agnus Dei the tenor is notated with the rubric ‘in diatessaron’, meaning that it should be performed a fourth higher than written, thus creating a new and lighter texture for the final movement. Elsewhere the texture is varied by the omission of a voice part (usually the tenor, as in the Christe eleison and Crucifixus sections) or two (the Benedictus). Alongside his motets, the Mass as a whole demonstrates that, while aspects of his compositional technique are somewhat distinct from those of his great contemporary Josquin, Mouton is not just another sheep among the flock of Renaissance composers—he is, in the best sense, egregious.

from notes by Stephen Rice © 2012

Des quinze messes complètes de Mouton qui nous ont été conservées, la Missa Tu es Petrus est la seule qui ne soit pas à quatre parties—il y a un cantus firmus avec quatre parties composées autour, soit cinq parties en tout. Le cantus firmus est disposé inhabituellement haut dans la texture. Au vrai, dans l’Agnus Dei, le ténor est noté avec la rubrique «in diatessaron», ce qui signifie qu’il faudrait l’interpréter une quarte plus haut qu’il n’est écrit, d’où une texture nouvelle, allégée, pour le mouvement final. Ailleurs, la texture est variée par l’omission d’une partie vocale (généralement le ténor, comme dans le Christe eleison et le Crucifixus) ou deux (le Benedictus). Avec les motets, cette messe démontre que, même s’il est parfois techniquement un peu différent de son grand contemporain Josquin, Mouton ne fait pas que grossir le troupeau des compositeurs de la Renaissance: il s’en détache.

extrait des notes rédigées par Stephen Rice © 2012
Français: Hypérion

Es sind insgesamt 15 vollständige Messvertonungen von Mouton überliefert, von denen die Missa Tu es Petrus die einzige ist, die nicht in vier Stimmen angelegt ist. Es erklingt hier ein Cantus firmus mit vier weiteren Stimmen, die darum herumkomponiert sind, so dass sich insgesamt fünf Stimmen ergeben. Der Cantus firmus liegt ungewöhnlich hoch. Im Agnus Dei ist der Tenor mit der Anweisung „in diatessaron“ versehen, was bedeutet, dass er eine Quarte höher auszuführen ist als notiert, was im letzten Satz für eine neue und leichtere Textur sorgt. Anderswo wird diese durch die Auslassung einer Stimme (zumeist der Tenorstimme, wie im Christe eleison und im Crucifixus) oder auch zwei Stimmen (im Benedictus) variiert. Neben seinen Motetten demonstriert die Messe, als Ganzes genommen, dass Mouton—während gewisse kompositorische Aspekte sich von der Technik seines großen Zeitgenossen Josquin unterscheiden—alles andere als ein Herdentier unter den Renaissance-Komponisten ist, sondern, im positivsten Sinne, herausragt.

aus dem Begleittext von Stephen Rice © 2012
Deutsch: Viola Scheffel

Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...