Missa O Magnum Mysterium Magnificat et Motets

Description

On this recording, the Ensemble Peñalosa brings together works by two composers whose sacred music chronologically frames the golden age of Iberian vocal music: Francisco de Peñalosa, a Spanish Renaissance composer (motets, Magnificat), after whom the ensemble is named, and Tomás Luis de Victoria (Missa, motets). While Peñalosa can be considered part of the first generation of composers who assimilated the Franco-Flemish style of Josquin Desprez, the death of Victoria in 1611 symbolically marks the end of the Iberian Renaissance with the adoption of Mannerist Italian influences. The Iberian Marian fervor, a unique and deeply emotional expression, also influenced both composers, just as it left its mark on Spanish visual arts of the 16th and 17th centuries. The compositions of Tomás Luis de Victoria not only experienced successful, rapid, and continuous dissemination throughout Europe due to their undeniably sublime quality, but they also received an additional boost from printed music editions—so that his music was performed without interruption until the 19th century and was elevated to the status of a symbol representing an entire musical era.