Search - Hilliard Ensemble :: Codex Specialnik

What century are we in? You may ask that when you hear the first 10 seconds of this very unusual recording of music "from a Prague manuscript c. 1500." Strange, too, is the title, which is the name of this "special songbook," one of the oldest surviving collections of Czech renaissance polyphony. The attention-getting opening piece is an example of a multiple-texted motet in which several sets of words are sung at the same time. But the textual chaos of this anonymous work is quickly followed by more refined works--the familiar "In natali domini," the haunting "Magnum miraculum," the exquisitely tender "Salve mater gracie," and the heartbreakingly beautiful "Presidiorum erogatrix," to name only four of many. Some of the pieces here are original Czech works; others are "imported" from well-known European composers, such as Josquin and Agricola. The four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble submit for our approval another of their trademark flawless performances--and leave us with only one choice: we have to have it. --David Vernier