Ludford/ Higginbottom - Missa Benedicta Et Venerabilis

The deeply expressive music of Nicholas Ludford (c. 1485-1557) has been re-discovered only relatively recently. Few composers of his stature - comparable to that of John Taverner - have been so comprehensively and so unjustly ignored for nearly five centuries. Recorded in the glorious acoustic of Saint-Martin de Hoff, Sarrebourg - a perfect environment for this extraordinary music - this release - previously released on K617 in 2008 - features the Missa benedicta et venerabilis, one of Ludford's most accomplished festal Masses, with it's plainsong propers, and two of his extended votive antiphons: Domine Jesu Christe and Ave cuius conceptio. Under the leadership of Edward Higginbottom, the Choir of New College, Oxford, has gained a worldwide reputation and is known particularly for it's stylish performances of Renaissance and Baroque music. "From the point of view of repertoire this is a major issue... New College's trebles show how much young singers can achieve in the way of cohesiveness, coherence and sheer persuasiveness of melodic shape." (Gramophone) "Scrupulous scholarship, masterful conducting and committed singing merge to restore the legacy of one of England's most inventive 16th-century composers." (BBC Music Magazine)