EX NIHILO
Polyphony beyond the order of things

Josquin Desprez (c.1450-1521)
01 Praeter rerum seriem (a 6) 7:22

Josquin Desprez
02 O admirabile commercium (a 4) 4:12
03 - Quando natus est 3:42
04 - Rubum quem viderat 2:29
05 - Germinavit radix Jesse 2:38
06 - Ecce Maria genuit 2:52

Josquin Desprez?
07 O virgo virginum (a 6) 7:42

Jacob Obrecht (c.1457-1505)
08 Salve Regina (a 4) 9:35

Johannes Ockeghem (c.1410-1497)
09 Alma redemptoris mater (a 4) 5:53

Jacob Obrecht
10 Salve Regina (a 6) 14:21

Bernardino de Ribera (c.1520-1580)
11 Vox in Rama (a 7) 6:28

Giaches de Wert (1535-1596)
12 Vox in Rama (a 5) 5:40]

About this album

On their newest recording for Glossa, Graindelavoix and Björn Schmelzer present a fascinating array of Renaissance motets based on the theological concept of creatio ex nihilo, creation out of nothing, as exemplified in the mystery of the Incarnation, the idea of God becoming a man. Well-known pieces like Josquin Desprez’s Praeter rerum seriem are combined with less famous works by the same composer, and very fine contributions by Obrecht, Ockeghem, Ribera and Wert.

Björn Schmelzer bases his intriguing approach to the performance of these pieces on a 1561 quote by the Flemish Protestant pedagogue Johannes Molanus: “[Mensural polyphony] is a singing without sense or content, in which the voices are resounding emptily in so-called proses, motets, and artificial songs in foreign languages, ornamented for the delectation of the ears, which have no meaning that could be understood even by the singers themselves.” And Schmelzer himself adds: “Polyphony owes its existence to the bizarre articulation of a void, an articulation that is itself void of content and meaning. [...] In no way polyphony improves intelligibility or contributes to a greater understanding of the liturgical texts, having in fact the reverse effect...”

This 19th album of Graindelavoix on Glossa will for sure please the ensemble’s ever-increasing base of followers, and again constitutes a groundbreaking contribution to intelligent and exciting performance of ancient repertory.