Various Artists - Cor Europae - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Prague has always been regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The name 'Cor Europae' (Heart of Europe) probably dates from the country's early history, in the thirteenth century, when the Kingdom of Bohemia stretched from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. This was a period of great prosperity, especially under King Wenceslaus II Premyslid, and culminated with the reign of Charles IV, who was both King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor. Despite the fact that Bohemia was the centre of Europe and benefited from the presence of many scholars (more especially after the foundation of the university in 1348), the local culture also preserved an older tradition there. This can be seen in the beautiful repertory for the Advent and Christmas period that have survived in the sources of Prague Cathedral and the Benedictine abbey of Prague Castle. These sources make it possible to reconstruct the liturgy of the Feast of the Nativity as it was celebrated there, with organa and tropes in the tradition of twelfth-century music, at a time when the new Ars Nova style was flourishing elsewhere in Europe. It is this music that the wonderful voices of the Tiburtina Ensemble bring to life for us. Album Tracks 1. Antiphona Ave Spes Nostra 2. Benedicamen in Hac Precelsa Sollempnitate 3. Kyrie Creator Pater Increate 4. Hymnus Veni Redemptor Gencium 5. Lectio Primo Tempore 6. Offertorium Tui Sunt Celi - Tropus Nate Dei 7. Lectio Iube Domine - Consolamini 8. Benedicamen Splendor Partis Et Sol - Festivali Melodia 9. Benedicamen Puer Natus in Bethlehem 10. Lectio Consolamini 11. Responsorium Descendit de Caelis - Tropus Fabrica Mundi 12. Lectio Iube Domine - Consurge 13. Benedicamen Nos Respectu Gracie 14. Introitus Lux Fulgebit - Tropus Lumen Clarum Rite 15. Cantio Gaude Quam Magnificat 16. Sanctus Super Gaude Quam Magnificat 17. Benedicam