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The Lost Music of Canterbury

Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks (5-CD set)

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Cover of Lost MusicRestored by Nick Sandon

The 5-CD boxed set The Lost Music of Canterbury: Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks is the capstone of a landmark project of international musical significance which presents extraordinary music from the last generation of medieval Catholicism in England. Judged by this music, Catholic culture remained vital and confident during this turbulent period. The fifth disc in the series was recognized with the Gramophone Award for Early Music 2018, making Blue Heron the first North American ensemble to have won the Early Music Award in the 41 years it has been given.

The set includes mostly world-premiere recordings and features masses by Nicholas Ludford, antiphons by Hugh Aston and Richard Pygott, the complete surviving works of Robert Jones (an early 16th-century musician, not the lute-song composer of the Elizabethan era) and the gifted though previously completely unknown composers Hugh Sturmy and Robert Hunt, and all but one of the surviving works of John Mason. The missing tenor parts (and, where needed, the treble parts) have been supplied by Nick Sandon, who has dedicated much of his professional life to the Peterhouse partbooks, which were copied for Canterbury Cathedral in 1540 and are now named for the college currently housing them, Peterhouse Cambridge.

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BHCD 1008

Release Date: October 19, 2018

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Track Listing

Disc 1
1 Ave Maria dive matris Anne – Hugh Aston (11:17)
2 Magnificat – Robert Jones (13:38)
3 Gaude virgo matris Christi – Aston (12:02)
4 Quales sumus O miseri – John Mason (12:13)
5 Ave Maria ancilla trinitatis – Aston (14:36)

Disc 2
6 Introit: Me expectaverunt peccatores (4:06)
7 Kyrie XII (Conditor) (2:26)
8 Gloria / Missa Regnum mundi – Nicholas Ludford (9:40)
9 Gradual: Specie tua (4:35)
10 Alleluya: Veni electa mea (2:45)
11 Credo / Missa Regnum mundi – Ludford (9:18)
12 Offertory: Offerentur regi virgines (1:25)
13 Sanctus / Missa Regnum mundi – Ludford (13:26)
14 Agnus Dei / Missa Regnum mundi – Ludford (7:17)
15 Communion: Feci iudicium (1:15)
16 Ite missa est (0:43)
17 Votive antiphon: Salve regina – Richard Pygott (22:42)

Disc 3
18 Ave fuit prima salus – John Mason (19:17)
19 Kyrie Cunctipotens genitor – Sarum plainchant (3:07)
Missa Inclina cor meum – Nicholas Ludford
20 Gloria (8:09)
21 Credo (10:20)
22 Sanctus (11:25)
23 Agnus Dei (7:37)

Disc 4
24 Ave cujus conceptio – Nicholas Ludford (8:51)
25 Kyrie Deus creator omnium – Sarum plainchant (2:27)
Missa Spes nostra – Robert Jones
26 Gloria (8:31)
27 Credo (9:07)
28 Sanctus (10:26)
29 Agnus Dei (8:37)
30 Stabat mater – Robert Hunt (17:51)

Disc 5
31 Exultet in hac die – Hugh Sturmy (3:31)
32 Ave Maria mater dei – Robert Hunt (4:40)
33 Ve nobis miseris – John Mason (12:46)
34 Kyrie Orbis factor – Sarum plainchant (2:10)
Missa sine nomine – Anonymous
35 Gloria (7:42)
36 Credo (7:34)
37 Sanctus (9:05)
38 Agnus Dei (8:02)

Total time: 5 hours, 25 minutes