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Order the newest CD from Vox:

Extreme Singing  

The La Rue Requiem and other Low Masterpieces of the Renaissance

 

Available NOW!!!!

 

Winner of the 2006 American Musicological Society's "Noah Greenberg Award"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vox makes history by becoming the first modern ensemble in the world  to record the Requiem by Pierre de la Rue, unaccompanied, and at its written pitch.  This work is set at such an extraordinarily low range that many scholars have called it "unperformable".  In addition to shattering this misconception, the recording will involve other examples of "extreme singing" from the Renaissance, include a work featuring the lowest note ever written in Renaissance music!  

Pierre de la Rue? (c.1460-1518)

1.  Absalon fili mi  For Maximilian, upon the death of Philip I the Fair in 1506

 

Pierre de la Rue (c.1460-1518)

Requiem (Missa pro fidelibus defunctis)- Possibly written for the death of Philip I the Fair in 1506

     2.  Introit: Requiem Aeternam

     3.  Kyrie

     4.  Tract: Sicut Cervus

     5.  Offertory: Domine Jesu Christe

     6.  Sanctus/Benedictus

     7.  Agnus Dei

     8.  Communion: Lux Aeterna

 

Pierre de la Rue (c.1460-1518)

9.  Plorer, gemir, crier/Requiem-  For the death of Johannes Ockeghem in 1497

 

Jean Mouton (d.1522)

10.  Quis dabit oculis nostris-  For the death of Anne of Brittany in 1514

 

Pierre Moulu (?1484-c.1550)

11.  Fiere Attropos/Anxiatus est-  For the death of Anne of Brittany in 1514

 

Gaspar van Weerbeke (c. 1445- after 1516)

12.  Stabat Mater dolorosa/Vidit speciosam

 

Program notes, texts and translations from Vox's concert performance

 

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Order the premiere CD from Vox:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This program explores the music of the master Josquin as well as the generation of composers who flourished after his death. The CD features works by Josquin, Gombert, and the rich polyphony of the six-voice Requiem of Jean Richafort, an unjustly neglected work that was likely composed for the death of Josquin. CD includes a 12-page booklet featuring texts, translations, and notes.

Josquin Desprez (c.1455-1521)

1.  Nimphes nappés (1.3MB, mp3) 

2.  Faulte d'argent                          

3. Benedicta es                

 

NicolasGombert (c.1500-c.1556)

4. Musae Jovis (0.9MB, mp3) 

 

Jean Richafort (c.1480-c.1547)

Requiem

5.  Introitus:  Requiem aeternam

6.  Kyrie   (1.2MB, mp3)                             

7. Graduale:  Si ambulem

8.  Offertorium:  Domine Jesu Christe

9.  Sanctus/Benedictus 

10.  Agnus Dei I/II/III        

11.  Communio:  Lux aeterna (0.7MB, mp3) 

Critical acclaim for Vox's first CD, Josquin and the Lost Generation:

 

 "The vitality of the early music movement is nowhere better demonstrated than by the emergence of Vox, an a cappella ensemble based in Ann Arbor, MI"

All Media Guide (www.allmusic.com)

 

"If we're ever to reach a point where the masterpieces of Renaissance music become as familiar to the general public as are the Michelangelo sculptures that people flock to see, it is groups like Vox that will make it so.  An auspicious debut."

All Media Guide (www.allmusic.com)

 

"The real appeal of this recording is in the warmth and expressiveness of the singers, and in the group's creamy ensemble blend."

Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association

 

"Richafort's six-voice Requiem, most likely composed for the death of Josquin, occupies a major part of the CD.  It is well worth the space:  Both the stately, solemn music and its exceptional realization justify the label 'unjustly neglected'."

Ann Arbor News

 

"Throughout, the singing is pure and richly nuanced..."

Ann Arbor News