Search - Josquin Desprez, Ludwig Senfl, Hans Gerle :: Marienmotetten von Josquin Desprez und Ludwig Senfl

The Virgin Mary has been the subject of far more devotional music than any other saint, and possibly of more than Christ himself. Here the Munich Group for Early Music presents three Marian motets by Senfl, the fine Renaissance composer native to Bavaria, with three by Josquin Desprez, the acknowledged master of the previous generation. Martin Zöbeley performs these works with single voices (sometimes with lute or trombone), using slow tempos and a gentle approach that can seem dull and featureless or reverential and contemplative (depending on the listener). In any case, this record is worthwhile for its pairing of Josquin's famous four-voice Ave Maria with a splendid six-voice parody (that is, reworking and extension) of that motet by Senfl. --Matthew Westphal