Vicente Lusitano: Motets

£15.00

The Marian Consort, directed by Rory McCleery

In his own time an important music theorist, Lusitano’s reputation and music have both been neglected in ours. As so often with musical figures of the Renaissance, many of the details of his life remain unknown. We can, however, be reasonably confident that he was the first published composer of African heritage. Referred to as ‘pardo’ in one eighteenth-century source, his only surviving printed book of compositions, the Liber primus epigramatum, was issued in Rome in 1551. True to its pioneer spirit as ‘brilliant discoverers, and exponents, of rare repertoire’ (The Observer), The Marian Consort has recorded a carefully chosen programme of these striking and impressive unjustly forgotten works.

The Marian Consort, directed by Rory McCleery

In his own time an important music theorist, Lusitano’s reputation and music have both been neglected in ours. As so often with musical figures of the Renaissance, many of the details of his life remain unknown. We can, however, be reasonably confident that he was the first published composer of African heritage. Referred to as ‘pardo’ in one eighteenth-century source, his only surviving printed book of compositions, the Liber primus epigramatum, was issued in Rome in 1551. True to its pioneer spirit as ‘brilliant discoverers, and exponents, of rare repertoire’ (The Observer), The Marian Consort has recorded a carefully chosen programme of these striking and impressive unjustly forgotten works.

Reviews

Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice, October 2022

"The Marian Consort’s superb performances feel as though they have been grown into and lived in. They have reached a new level, and the outstanding quality of their sound is matched by the recording." Gramophone

“a fine, cultivated ensemble sound...a very exciting discovery” SWR Radio, Germany

“the sound that unrolls is seductive, sometimes close to bewitchment” Forum Opera, France

"breathtakingly beautiful...The Marian Consort is a young ensemble with beautiful voices that knows how to get the most out of this music. Lusitano's music is truly a discovery!" Klassieke Zaken, Netherlands