Musurgia Ensemble • Pierre De La Rue: Missa Iste Confessor Domini (CD)

 

With Missa Iste Confessor Domini, the Musurgia Ensemble presents a fascinating journey into the music of the 16th century, taken directly from the historical manuscripts of the Santa Cruz monastery in Coimbra, Portugal. The focus is on the mass of the same name, which comes from the choir book P-Cug MM 2 – one of Portugal’s most important musical sources from this period.

 

This manuscript, probably produced in ‘s-Hertogenbosch shortly after 1530, contains eleven masses by renowned Franco-Flemish composers such as Noel Bauldeweyn, Pierre de La Rue, Jean Mouton, Pierre Moulu and Adrian Willaert. The exceptional elegance of the book and the careful selection of works suggest a prestigious origin – possibly a commission or acquisition by the monastery, which wanted to secure access to the most advanced polyphony in Europe.

 

The central Missa Iste Confessor Domini still raises questions today: in other sources, it is listed under the title Missa supra O quam glorifica luce and attributed to Antoine de Févin, while in Coimbra, Pierre de La Rue is named as the composer. Despite these differing attributions, the Coimbra version is convincing thanks to its clear instructions, especially for the complex canons in the Sanctus, which other sources only transmit incorrectly.

The programme is complemented by instrumental works from the Coimbra manuscripts MM 48 and MM 242, including ricercars and tentos by Heliodoro de Paiva, António Carreira and Jacques Buus. This reveals the rich soundscape of the Santa Cruz monastery, which not only embraced international polyphony but also cultivated a lively local music culture.

 

João Francisco Távora, renowned recorder player and artistic director of the Musurgia Ensemble, draws on his many years of experience with Portuguese Renaissance and Baroque music. After studying in Porto and Leipzig, he has toured international stages as a soloist and ensemble musician and has made numerous recordings.

 

The Musurgia Ensemble, founded in 2020 by João Francisco Távora and Helder Sousa, is dedicated to performing rediscovered works from the 16th to 18th centuries. With interdisciplinary projects and collaborations with universities and theatre ensembles, the ensemble focuses on combining musicological research with lively concert practice.

 

With Missa Iste Confessor Domini, listeners experience a world of sound that combines historical precision, musical sophistication and the splendour of Franco-Flemish polyphony – a rare opportunity to hear the music of the Portuguese monastery of Santa Cruz in an authentic performance.

João Francisco Távora recorders, artistic direction
Sofia Pedro soprano
Luís Toscano tenor
Robert Ehrlich recorders
António Godinho recorders
Emma Reynaud recorders