Sony Music - Praetorius /Waverly Consort / Jaffee - A Renaissance Christmas - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Jean-Pierre Ferey, one of the major interpret of the French composer Aubert Lemeland (1932-2010), performs the long piano cycle InchBallades du SoldatInch. a masterwork inspired by poems written by American soldiers during 2nd World War.

The pieces on this album originate largely from the Christmette by Michael Praetorius. In addition, nativity hymns by a range of different composers from the same era have been compiled. In Lutheran style the compositions on this album include solo pieces, choir arrangements, double choral motets, instrumental pieces and of course the church organ repertoire. The listener can also hear pieces, which were not necessarily meant for Christmas, but fit the program very well. The function of some of the pieces is liturgical, like InchGloria,Inch InchOur Father,Inch or the mighty Entrance-Prelude. Two other pieces are meditative moments about the name of Jesus. Many of the songs are well-known. However, the arrangements for soloists and/or choir from Praetorius and his contemporaries are rarely performed. The Early Music ensemble Margaretha Consort was founded in 2009. The ensemble is based in the Netherlands, but the singers and instrumentalists are from all over Europe. Over the years a very skilled team has been created, where knowledge, musicality, and congeniality go hand in hand.

Yet another Christmas features the Christmas vocal polyphony of Cristobal de Morales, who is regarded as the first significant Spanish composer of the Renaissance. Like most compositions for this Christian feast, his Christmas motets circulated and were performed throughout Europe, traveling far beyond Spain's borders. His archaic, mystical and expressive musical language, that one almost might term place-less and timeless, must have played a role in this dissemination. Moreover, Morales was active not only in Spanish cathedrals but also spent many years of his creative career as a papal singer in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. And it seems to have been precisely this individual blend of Spanish expressiveness and Roman strictness - with it's added Franco-Flemish stamp - that makes Morales' music so unique and qualifies him as the first genuine European composer of his times.