Ockeghem: Requiem (1993)

Originally released in 1993, this exceptional recording of Johannes Ockeghem's Requiem has been reissued in Harmonia Mundi's Musique d'abord line with a change of packaging and a reduction of price. This Requiem is a beautiful example of the plainchant mass and is the earliest surviving polyphonic Mass for the Dead. It was most likely written in 1461 and originally consisted of the Introit, Kyrie eleison, Graduale, Tractus, and the Offertorium. All the other texts were probably sung in unembellished plainchant, following ... Read More

Originally released in 1993, this exceptional recording of Johannes Ockeghem's Requiem has been reissued in Harmonia Mundi's Musique d'abord line with a change of packaging and a reduction of price. This Requiem is a beautiful example of the plainchant mass and is the earliest surviving polyphonic Mass for the Dead. It was most likely written in 1461 and originally consisted of the Introit, Kyrie eleison, Graduale, Tractus, and the Offertorium. All the other texts were probably sung in unembellished plainchant, following normal church practice. In this pre-Tridentine setting, the Requiem appears truncated, but to call this performance a reconstruction or a completion is not quite accurate since Ockeghem's work was as complete as he deemed necessary. However, to give this recording a semblance of completeness for modern listeners, Ockeghem's movements are presented within the liturgical context, with the Epistle, Gospel, Agnus Dei, and Libera Me sung by Marcel Pérès and Ensemble Organum in plainchant.... Read Less