‘The clarity of intonation and line has the freshness of an illuminated page of manuscript revealed for the first time for two thirds of a millenium’ (Early Music Review)

‘Highly desirable at full price and even more so now. There’s no competition if you want both the Masses together. The Missa Salve regina is the high point of the recording for me—with a gloriously ceremonial organ part and harmonies which are at once of the 20th-century yet harking back to Machaut and before, this music deserves to be much better known and this is the very recording to do it’ (MusicWeb International)

'The ensemble Gallicantus is an all-male group known for skilful interpretations of music from the late Renaissance. Made up of just seven singers—including their director, Gabriel Crouch—they have already built a formidable reputation for bringing the Renaissance back to life through dynamic performance and intense interpretation … the music is intensely poignant and reflective. As an expression of the depths of a man’s soul in the face of death, reaching and maintaining the right emotional tone from the start can be a difficult task indeed … each single voice is wonderfully strong, but never overwhelms. Even at the extreme ends of the musical range—particularly that of the countertenors, which is often soaring high above the rest of the texture, but never outside it—no single voice dominates. This is secured despite the awesome strength of each voice. Each is always subservient to the ensemble, the music, and the bigger picture. The resulting balance is sublime. This is all helped along by the very detailed and well-researched programme notes, which greatly enhanced my experience' (MusicWeb International)» More

«Une merveille» (Répertoire, France)

‘A glorious performance … of what must rank among the greatest of Lassus's Mass settings’ (Hi Fi World)

‘Elegant and imaginative … the wind-band pieces are especially gorgeous. [The Mass] receives an opulent interpretation that stands out in a rather crowded field of challengers. Highly recommended’ (Gramophone)

‘This is a superb record, and Hyperion must be congratulated on such an imaginative undertaking. All admirers of the Golden Age of Church Music, and all admirers of the pre-Vatican II rite, should buy a copy. All will treasure it’ (Choir & Organ)

‘His performance meets the best standards of The Tallis Scholars, with every detail well controlled and everything clearly audible but at the same time a musical freedom that brings the music to life … the singers cope effortlessly with the chromatic complexities of the famous early Timor et tremor. Once again, then, The Tallis Scholars and the Gimell label have produced something spectacularly worthwhile’ (Gramophone)

‘[Cinquecento's reading is] finely detailed and vocally sure-footed [with a] secure sense of architecture … close attention is rewarded with deepening appreciation’ (Gramophone)

‘In his day, de Lassus was more celebrated than his contemporary Palestrina and even more prolific, although today their relative pre-eminence is reversed. This disc is typically representative of The Brabant Ensemble's intention to record and promulgate somewhat lesser-known music from the first half of the sixteenth century. Devotees of the period will welcome its austere, otherworldly beauty’ (MusicWeb International)

‘The Brabant Ensemble's singers sound thoroughly engaged in their tribute to Lassus, with a rich tone-spectrum allowing for maximum appreciation of his fluid, elegant polyphony’ (Choir & Organ)

‘They certainly are astonishing in their harmonic daring, moving from C major via G major and B major to C sharp minor in the bat of an eyelid, and are wonderfully captured here by the suavely assured Brabant Ensemble under scholarly Stephen Rice. The prologue and 12 movements that make up Prophetiae Sibyllarum are joined by a Mass, a magnificat and three marvellous motets, including the sumptuous Tristis est anima mea. Listen and be moved’ (The Observer)