The Clerks’ Group makes another outstanding exhibition of music by Josquin (and contemporary Walter Frye), once more showing consummate musicianship, impeccable ensemble singing, and unassailable stylistic integrity. (Type Q3559 and Q5142 in Search Reviews for more on this group’s Josquin CDs on ASV.) In fact, this is among the best all-around recordings of Josquin’s sacred music in the catalog, from its first-rate performances to vibrant, clearly detailed sound. Not only do the singers show complete mastery of their individual and collective expressions, but the repertoire displays some of Josquin’s more moving and masterful creations. From the opening motet, Tu solus qui facis mirabilia, a wrenchingly beautiful work that in its first moments shows what exquisite music can be created with just a few chords, you know that you’re in for a special listening experience. While all choral aficionados know the ravishing and ideally proportioned Ave verum corpus settings by Byrd and Mozart, Josquin’s own eight-minute-long explication of the revered text is of equal merit, if less admirable for its long-windedness. The mass, like all Josquin’s mass settings, is an exemplary manifestation of form and textual illumination. If you don’t know Josquin’s music, there are many fine places to start–the Tallis Scholars, La Chapelle Royale, the Hilliard Ensemble, A Sei Voci, Westminster Cathedral Choir, etc.–but you won’t go wrong if you begin right here.
