A Christmas programme with a difference: Rory McCleery and his acclaimed consort echo the shepherds’ noels through a motet by Jean Mouton which, astonishingly, remained in the repertoire of the Sistine Chapel for over a hundred years after its composition around 1515.

So famous already by the middle of the century, when Cristóbal de Morales was engaged as a singer in the papal chapel, it was inevitable that Mouton’s motet – by the compositional precepts of the time – should form the basis for a mass by Morales; and, later still, for a new motet to the same text by Annibale Stabile. A world premiere recording of the latter work crowns this unique programme, drawn from new performing editions by McCleery himself.

THE MARIAN CONSORT
RORY MCCLEERY director

DCD34145 • Released 2014