Paoloʼs musical language is in tension between two poles: the eccentrically abstract and hypersensitive mannerism of late Gothic art, against the simple beauty and straightforward nature of the upcoming humanism of the Renaissance.

Demachy is one of those composers of whom history tells us little. Nevertheless, he is one of the key figures of the French viola da gamba tradition during the reign of Louis XIV. According to Jean Rousseau (Traité de la Viole, 1687), he was a pupil of Nicolas Hotman (1610–1633), like Saint-Colombe (ca.1640–ca.1700).
Demachy left a single collection of 8 suites for solo viol: Pièces de Violle en Musique et en Tablature, differentes les unes des autres, et sur plusieurs Tons. 

The 15th and 16th centuries were the golden age of Flemish polyphony. Dufay, Josquin, Isaac and many others were among the composers most celebrated in the major courts of Europe. In terms of both their methods and their musical output, these composers transmitted a style characterised by complex counterpoint and a remarkable sense of musical architecture. Ludwig Senfl had the highest regard for these qualities. Under the influence of his teacher Heinrich Isaac, he made the Flemish idiom his own, while adding to it obvious personal touches.
Making the present selection has brought home to us what a privilege it is to be able to choose from an output of such quality – yet how frustrating it is to have to do so! We have done no more than lift one small corner of the veil beneath which Senfl’s masterly oeuvre lies hidden. Nearly 500 years after his death, a large part of his output remains consigned to musical history, completely unknown to both music-lovers and performers. We hope that this recording will demonstrate how unjustly Senfl’s reputation has been obscured by that of his teacher Isaac; for us, his music has been a revelation and a source of huge musical pleasure.

The collections of airs published in France by Ballard between 1608 and 1643 contain 17 airs on Italian words, of which six are in the polyphonic collections, six are for voice with lute tablature and five for voice with guitar tablature. Taking account of variants and different versions, polyphonic or monodic, of the same pieces, we are left with ten texts – a rather insignificant group amid a repertoire of over 2,000 French airs. The present recording manages to include all these ten texts, thereby presenting almost all the Italian airs published by French composers during Louis XIII’s reign. The musicians of Il Festino have interspersed these airs with a number of instrumental pieces and songs to Spanish texts of the same period. All the Italian airs are by three of the foremost French composers of the time, each of whom moved in court and salon circles.

John Jenkins’ life encompassed the golden age of English instrumental music, from Byrd to Purcell. Throughout this period, he scrupulously followed the fashions of English chamber music as it evolved in stages from the typical English fantasia towards the trio sonata of more Italianate inspiration. With considerable skill and a strong sense of lyricism he brought the fantasia for viol consort to its zenith. John Jenkins and his much esteemed friend William Lawes can be regarded as the two most important composers in England during the reign of Charles I.

  

 
During the 18th century, the Italian style had an influence upon musical production in Liège, affecting both instrumental and vocal music. The establishment in 1699 of the Collège Liégois in Rome was to play a significant part in this process of cultural importation.
Herman-François Delange, scholarships from the Darchis Foundation, was to exemplify this musical development. Particularly drawn to the Neapolitan school, he introduced its expressivity and its melodic colours to the prince-bishopric and so contributed to the establishment there of a typically Neapolitan Italianate style. He leaved us a body of work in the galant style with refined and pleasant melodies, modestly defining a bridge between the old baroque style and the advent of classicism. His few surviving works display a real talent and establish Delange as a significant figure in the development of chamber music in Belgium.

 

Under the impulse of the Counter-Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church decided to appropriate the most popular among the secular songs of the time and to set them to new lyrics, thus creating so-called “spiritual parodies” that would be more conducive to meditation and more effective for home praying. In parallel emerged a naughty or even licentious literature revelling in stigmatizing the French clergy’s shortcomings, while mocking gently the lascivious aspirations of certain religious congregations.

England came late to the trend of Lute Song, but embraced it in a way that proved to be more fruitful and influential than in the rest of Europe. This was mainly due to the figure of John Dowland, one of the greatest song composers of any age and the main inspiration behind this recording. 

For its debut CD, the ensemble RosaSolis accompanies the outstanding soprano Magali Léger (appearing on her first early music CD) in a selection of three motets by Handel, dating from his Roman period. Among them is the much-discussed Gloria which was rediscovered and attributed to Handel as recently as 2001.

  

The 20th-century revival of the recorder began very much in England – on the one hand thanks to the discovery of historical instruments, and on the other hand due to the presence of players who belonged to an uninterrupted tradition. The recorder player Patrick Denecker and his ensemble La Caccia invite us to discover the instrument through the medium of a dynasty of composers originally from Ghent, who played an important part in English musical life.

The Ensemble Clematis returns with another album of discoveries. Carolus Hacquart was undoubtedly the most important composer in the Netherlands during the late 17th century. Nevertheless, he remains unknown to the public at large. The present programme alternates motets taken from his Cantiones Sacrae, performed by a strong cast of musicians, with instrumental pieces from his Harmonia Parnassia Sonatarum.

The Belgian tenor Stéphane van Dyck needs no introduction: for years now he has performed with the best European baroque ensembles. This solo recital of madrigals explores the sources of Baroque music, in which vocal expressivity is given free rein in the service of the text. Van Dyck is joined for this recording by outstanding musicians such as Christina Pluhar and Quito Gato.

Little is known about Grétry’s six youthful string quartets op. 3. They appear to have been composed and performed while this Liège composer was living in Rome, and are his only chamber music publication. These graceful and vivacious pieces were probably well received by the public of the time, which was sensing the beginnings of a stylistic renewal with an emphasis on expressivity and elegance.

Like the poetry of the troubadours and trouvères, the Gallego-Portuguese lyric includes several distinct genres, one of which is the cantiga de amigo. There are nearly 400 surviving poems in this genre, only six of which – cantigas by Martin Codax – have come down to us with their music. The ensemble Fin’Amor presents a richly instrumented interpretation of these rare examples of Gallego-Portuguese lyric.

For its first recording, Ensemble Clematis presents the 17th-century Brussels composer Nicolaus à Kempis. Very little is known about him, but he left several publications of superb music with an Italian influence.