Review - Ockeghem: Prince of Music
A recent performance was described by the critic of the Village Voice as "well nigh perfect."
Works from the Greatest Musician of the 15th Century
Missa Prolationem Hostias et preces (from Requiem) Ergone conticuit
Cappella Nova
Richard Taruskin, Director
Johannes Ockeghem was the greatest musician of the late 15th century. No one enjoyed greater prestige among the patrons and students of music in the Renaissance. The quality of Ockeghem's music that survives to the present more than demonstrates this. Unfortunately all we have are 15 masses and some chansons and motets.
Among the masses, the Missa Prolationem is outstanding and it's complexities legendary. The Requiem Mass is the earliest polyphonic work of its kind to have survived.
Ergone conticuit is a beautiful elegy in memory of Ockeghem, with words by Erasmus and music by Johannes Lupi. Lupi's treatment of Erasmus' poignant words is a worthy tribute to the great composer, fashioned in a manner belonging very much to it's own time, not his. Lupi's motet is both a tribute and an up-date.
All the music on this record is performed by the Cappella Nova, a choir which specializes in sacred choral music of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. The American Musicological Society awarded it first Noah Greenberg prize to Cappella Nova in recognition of it's Ockeghem performances. A recent performance was described by the critic of the Village Voice as "well nigh perfect."
