Composer: Alexander Agricola, Josquin Despres, Antoine de Févin, Johannes Ghiselin, Heinrich Isaac, Jean Mouton, Pierre de la Rue, Franciscus Strus, Pierquin de Thérache
Performer: Alamire, English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble
Conductor: David Skinner
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Obsidian Records
Catalogue: CD712
Release: 2014
Size: 2.14 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
01. Mouton: Celeste beneficium
02. Fevin: Adiutorium nostrum
03. anon: Nesciens mater
04. Rue: Ave regina caelorum
05. Prés: Descendi in hortum meum
06. Fevin: Sancta trinitas unus Deus
07. Rue: Vexilla Regis – Passio Domini nostri
08. Prés: Fama malum
09. Rue: Quis dabit pacem: Doleo super te
10. anon.: O Domine Iesu Christe – Et sanctissima mater tua
11. anon.: Maxsimilla Christo amabilis
12. Strus: Sancta Maria succurre miseris – O werder mondt
13. anon.: Sancta et immaculata virginitas
14. Prés: Missus est Gabriel angelus
15. anon.: Dulcissima virgo Maria
16. anon: Tolca purche es – Salve regina
17. anon.: O sancta Maria virgo virginum
18. Therache: Verbum bonum et soave
19. anon.: Recordamini quomodo praedixit filium
20. anon.: O beatissime Domine Iesu Christe – Fac me de tua gratia
CD 02
01. anon.: Ave Sanctissima Maria
02. Mouton: Ecce Maria genuit nobis
03. anon.: Congratulamini mihi omnes
04. Fevin: Egregie Christi martir Christophore – Ecce enim
05. anon.: Alma redemptoris mater
anon.: Dulces exuviae
06. Dulces exuviae
07. Dulces exuviae
08. Dulces exuviae
09. Dulces exuviae
10. Dulces exuviae
11. Prés: Absalon, fili mi
12. anon.: Iesus autem transiens
13. Isaac: Anima mea – Invenerunt – Filiae Ierusalem
14. Prés: Tribulatio et angustia invenerunt me
Among the musical treasures in the British Library is MS Royal 8.g.vii, a sumptuous choirbook prepared for Henry VIII and his first queen Catherine of Aragon. It was produced by Petrus Alamire, who not only headed one of the finest musical scriptoriums of the age but acted as a spy for Henry against Richard de la Pole, a Plantagenet claimant to the English throne.
The choirbook, gifted to the royal couple in around 1516, contains 34 motets, many of them unique to this manuscript and includes masterworks by the leading French and Franco-Flemish composers of the age including Josquin Desprez, Jean Mouton, Heinrich Isaac, Antoine de Févin, and Pierre de la Rue.