This album was recorded in May 2021 in Tui Cathedral, located in Pontevedra, Spain.
Historical Context
Josquin's music spread rapidly through Europe, taking pride of place in early music printing presses and entering Spain via foreign manuscripts brought by travelers, notably during Philip the Fair's sojourn in 1502-03.
Cultural Impact
Josquin Desprez's music was so renowned that theorist Juan Bermudo referred to him as 'the great musician Josquin with whom music began' in his 1555 Declaración de instrumentos musicales.
Interpretation
This recording explores alternative performance practices for Josquin's music, including solo vihuela, accompanied song with a single singer and vihuela, and two singers with vihuela, inspired by historical vihuela books.
Compositional Technique
Josquin Desprez's music is characterized by a balance of architecture and rhetoric, with proportional structures and melodies that closely align with the meaning of his texts.
Instruments
The album features three vihuelas de mano: a bass vihuela built in 2009 by Marcus Wesche, and two alto vihuelas built in 2011 by Martin Haycock and in 2021 by Francisco Hervás.
Composer Biography
Josquin Desprez, a composer born around the mid-15th century from the Low Countries, became the epitome of a new musical style that dominated church music for over a century.
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