Utopia Triumphans
        The Great Polyphony of the Renaissance
            Huelgas Ensemble / Paul van Nevel
                  Sony Classical SK 66 261

        Thomas Tallis: Spem in alium 40 part motet
        Constanzo Porta: Sactus & Agnus Dei from the "Missa Ducalis"
        (with a14 part canon in the Agnus Dei)
        Josquin Desprez: Qui habitat (24 part motet)
        Johannes Ockeghem: Deo gratias (36 part canon)
        Pierre de Manchicourt: Laudate Dominum (6 part motet)
        Giovanni Gabrieli: Exaudi me Domine (16 part motet)
        Alessandro Striggio: Ecce beatam lucem (40 part motet)

The CD is a collection of examples of some immensely complex musical
gigantism from the 15th and 16th centuries.  It begins with Tallis's
monumental 40 part 'Spem in Alium' and concludes with Striggio's 'Ecce
beatam luca', which had inspired it.  Between them come equally wonderful
works by a number of composers of the 1400-1500's, some of whom are better
known than others.  Although in terms of the size of the forces required,
they are not quite as gigantic as Mahler's so-called Symphony of a
Thousand, but in terms of the sheer breadth of sustained inspiration and
breathtaking grandeur of the vision behind them, in my opinion many of
these works easily match and even surpass the Mahler.  Especially stunning
are the works by Tallis, Josquin and Ockeghem.  They leave me speechless
with awe every time.  As far as English composers are concerned, nothing
written in the centuries since Tallis by anyone - even Purcell - even
matches the "Spem in Alium" in sheer visionary intensity.  When I first
discovered the music of this period this was just the sort of music that
made me wonder why anyone even bothered composing after such apparent
perfection.  After this almost anything comes as an anticlimax.

After some recent animated discussions on the subject, anyone who might
have been tempted to set out on an adventure into the brave 'new' world
of music before J.S.  Bach will find Utopia Triumphans a perfect starting
point.  I recommend it as much for Paul van Nevel's excellent introductory
essay in the cover booklet on the polyphony of the 15th to 16th centuries.
Of particular interest is Paul van Nevel's exaltation the Franco-Flemish
school of polyphony as being the absolute epitome of Renaissance Art - in
flagrant contradiction to the still common perception of them as "late
Medieval".  I have written enough objections elsewhere about these
hopelessly vague terms as Medieval / Renaissance/ Mannerist / Baroque etc
elsewhere, but I do agree with him that the achievements of the Josquins
and Obrechts of this school demands comparison to artists such as
Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci.  I quote:

   Cosimo Bartali, in his "Ragionamenti accademici" (Venice, 1567),
   mentions Ockeghem and Donatello in one breath; and Josquin, in his
   opinion, is to be ranked on a par with Michelangelo.

Regardless as to whether you pigeon hole Josquin as a Renaissance or a
Medieval composer, he remains one of the real giants of all time.  I could
not imagine talking about the history of the visual arts without mentioning
Michelangelo, yet it boggles my mind to think that there are people around
who call themselves music lovers, to whom Josquin is no more than a name -
if he is even that.  Here is a perfect opportunity to change all of that.
As for those to whom these composers are as familiar as Mozart or
Beethoven, these works are still richly rewarding.

Satoshi Akima
Sydney, Australia
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