SANTIAGO A CAPELLA

1. Mariam Matrem Virginem

Llibre vermell de Montserrat

2. Ave Virgo Sanctissima

Francisco Guerrero

3. Lamentationes Ieremiae Prophetae

Alonso Lobo

4. Crux Fidelis

John IV of Portugal

5. O lux et decus Hispaniae

Tomas Luis de Victoria

6. O vos omnes

Tomas Luis de Victoria

7. Duo Seraphim

Francisco Guerrero

8. Versa est in luctum

Alonso Lobo

9. Non mortui qui sunt in inferne

Manuel Cardoso

10. Salva nos, Domine

Philippe Rogier

Monteverdi Choir / John Eliot Gardiner

This CD is a journey through medieval and renaissance Spain. It takes listeners from the 14th century polyphonies of the Llibre Vermell (Red Book) of Montserrat – one of the only surviving manuscripts, from a time when music was transmitted orally – to elaborate 16th and 17th century choral music which travelled internationally thanks to the recent invention of print.

During the Middle Ages and Early Modern periods, pilgrimage routes formed part of a broader network of cultural and commercial connections between ecclesiastical institutions in Spain, Portugal and the rest of Europe.

This is an anthology of Golden Age “classics” which would have been performed throughout Europe for centuries. In turn moving, intimate, spectacular and awe inspiring, this sacred music is always uplifting and deeply spiritual.

This is the oldest of two recordings made around the 2004 Pilgrimage to Santiago – a project undertook by the Monteverdi Choir and Sir John Eliot Gardiner for their 40th anniversary. The musicians travelled through France and Spain to perform sacred polyphonies of the Iberian peninsula along the route to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela.

Soli Deo Gloria SDG710