The Sixteen sing Guerrero & Janequin

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The centrepiece of the CD, though, is his Mass based on a famous chanson by Janequin depicting the Battle of Marignano in 1515. Guerrero selects the deceptively simple opening music as his material... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2009, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 2nd Mar 2009
Catalogue No: COR16067
Label: Coro
Length: 69 minutes

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La Guerre (La bataille de Marignan): La Guerre (La bataille de Marignan)

Work length6:13

$1.00

$1.40

The Sixteen

Lauda mater ecclesia: Lauda mater ecclesia

Work length3:36

$1.00

$1.40

The Sixteen

Tota pulchra es, Maria: Tota pulchra es, Maria

Work length7:18

$1.50

$2.10

The Sixteen

Hymn: Vexilla Regis: Hymn: Vexilla Regis

Work length9:22

$1.50

$2.10

The Sixteen

Songs of Songs: Ego flos campi: Songs of Songs: Ego flos campi

Work length3:28

$1.00

$1.40

The Sixteen

Pange lingua: Pange lingua

Work length8:58

$1.50

$2.10

The Sixteen

Missa de la batalla escoutez

Work length30:24

$6.50

$9.10

The Sixteen

Kyrie

Track length4:08

$1.00

$1.40

Gloria

Track length6:52

$1.00

$1.40

Credo

Track length7:25

$1.50

$2.10

Sanctus

Track length2:50

$1.00

$1.40

Benedictus

Track length2:32

$1.00

$1.40

Agnus Dei

Track length6:37

$1.00

$1.40

About
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About

This brand new recording by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen is dedicated to the works of Spanish Renaissance composer Francisco Guerrero and includes his exquisite Missa de la Batalla Escoutez. The Mass is a parody on Janeuqin's famous chanson 'La Guerre' which also features on this disc. Janequin’s La Guerre, was so popular in the 16th century that it led to numerous composers, including Janequin himself, writing parody mass settings on it. Missa de la Batalla Escoutez is one of the finest of those settings.

Guerrero is a quite astounding and varied composer with a wide expressive range. Heralded in the Renaissance as ‘the most extraordinary of his time in the art of music’, he was more famous than Victoria and Morales. Despite being a master of expression and sublime melodic invention - skills exemplified by his Missa de la Batalla Escoutez and the other fine works on this disc - Guerrero’s work has often been overlooked in favour of that of his contemporaries. With this brand new recording The Sixteen aims to redress the balance.

Reviews

May 2009

The centrepiece of the CD, though, is his Mass based on a famous chanson by Janequin depicting the Battle of Marignano in 1515. Guerrero selects the deceptively simple opening music as his material for a dazzling display of expansion and development. Harry Christophers gives magnificently sure-footed direction throughout.

2010

Westminster Cathedral Choir recorded Guerrero's 'Battle' Mass (based on Janequin's famous descriptive chanson) for Hyperion (see above), drawing on instrumental support from His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts. To this historically documented approach to performance The Sixteen now provide an a cappella alternative. But a more profound difference between the two interpretations is summed up in the question: to what extent ought the per- formance of a parody Mass (that is, a Mass based on earlier work) adopt not just the letter, but also the spirit of its model? The winds in the earlier recording helped James O'Donnell to evoke the martial atmosphere of the original Janequin song. The Sixteen take an altogether more placid approach throughout, with only the Credo rather more vigorous than the other movements. Whatever one's view of the matter, they defend their own with conviction: the Agnus Dei contains moments of great beauty, for which Guerrero too deserves some of the credit. It's a fine piece, and to have two contrasted interpretations of similar quality can only deepen one's appreciation of it.
The rest of the programme is on a similar level: particularly worth mentioning are Guerrero's two settings from the Song of Songs, Tota pulchraes and Ego flos campi. Helpfully, the model for Guerrero's Mass opens the programme.
Some listeners may find it incongruous for a heartfelt Mass to have been based on such worldly sentiments; stranger still for Spanish composers to borrow from a work written to celebrate a victory against their own side! But it is good to hear The Sixteen tackle something secular and less than reverent for a change. The singers certainly seem to enjoy it.

May 2009

…it is good to hear The Sixteen tackle something secular and less than reverent for a change. The singers certainly seem to enjoy it.

8th March 2009

The Sixteen luxuriate in [Guerrero's] texture and phrase. Other works by Guerrero further underline the illustriousness of a man who was one of the Renaissance’s finest.

29th March 2009

The Sixteen, have unearthed another Spanish Renaissance composer of equal eminence in his day: Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599)...The lyrical and expressive Missa de la batalla escoutez, based on a popular battle chanson by Janequin, is the centrepiece of this superb disc.

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