Josquin Desprez
About the composer
Josquin Desprez (c.1450 – 1521) was born in Hainault in Belgium. He was probably a student with Ockegem. He worked almost 10 years at the Chapel of the Pope in Rome, then with the court of Louis XII of France and finally was Provost of the Chapter at Condé.
Deprez composed a.o. 25 masses, more than 120 motets and more than 60 chansons. His style started a new musical period, the Musica Reservata. It is characterized by its great mobility, it is open-hearted and elegant.
About the Stabat Mater
| Date: | 1480 |
| Performers: | Mixed Choir (originally: 5 voices) |
| Length: | 8.10 minutes |
| Particulars: | A motet. The polyphony is constructed around a "cantus firmus" that is supposedly taken from a secular song by Gilles Binchois: the "Tenor" from Comme femme desconfortée. Compared to the English Renaissance music the stile is relaxed. The stanzas are sung smoothly one after the other, with one exception: after "dum emisit spiritum", the last breath of Jesus, the singers hold a subtle pause. |
| Textual variations: | The "Analecta"-text is used, but the stanzas 11 through 14 are omitted. |
| Colour bar: |
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CD information
| CD 1: | Harmonia Mundi 901243: Josquin Desprez, Stabat Mater – Motets |
| About this CD: | Dedicated to works of di Lasso. Recorded at the Priority Church of St Mary & St Blaise, Boxgrove, West-Sussex, in September 1983. |
| Choir: | La Chapelle Royale |
| Conductor: | Philippe Herreweghe |
| Other works: | Ave Maria |
| Code: | 1997 DES-01 |
| CD 2: | ASV Quicksilva CD QS 6234: Stabat Mater – Late medieval Motets of Penitence and Passion |
| About this CD: | Seven Motets by different composers, beautifully sung. Recorded at the Church of St.Michael and All Angels, Mount Dinham, Exeter, in June 1998. I bought this CD on the Internet, Amazon.com, 2001. |
| Choir: | Cantores |
| Conductor: | David Allinson |
| Other works: | Jean Mouton: Ave Maria Gemma Virginum |
| Code: | 2001 LAS-01 |
| CD 3: | KRO ES47.425 Stabat Mater 2003 |
| About this CD: | The recording of the fifth concert organized by the Dutch Stabat Mater Foundation. Recorded at the St.Petrus church, Oirschot, in April 2003. |
| Choir: | Capella Brugensis |
| Conductor: | Patrick Peire |
| Other works: | Antonio Vivaldi: Stabat Mater |
| Code: | 2003 SCH-05 |
| CD 4: | Stabat Mater Foundation 2013: Desprez (Tawfiq, Pergolesi) | ||
| About this CD: |
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| Choir: | Capella Pratensis | ||
| Conductor: | Stratton Bull | ||
| Other works: | Hawar Tafiq. Stabat Mater | ||
| Code: | 2015 TAW-01 |
