Cappella Pratensis | June 15

Just over 500 years ago, the Western musical world lost two compositional giants—Josquin Desprez (1521) and Jean Mouton (1522). While it is probably impossible to verify the claims that Mouton was Josquin’s pupil, a great number of other elements show the strong connection between the two. In “Canons of Beauty,” intellectually complexity is hidden behind irresistible euphony. Ethereal mass movements, motets, and chansons result from canonic puzzles, where one or more voices are not written but implied and have to be solved by the singers.

Under the direction of Stratton Bull, Cappella Pratensis (founded in 1987) specializes in the music of Josquin Desprez and other polyphonic composers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. As was customary in the renaissance, the singers of Cappella Pratensis usually stand around a central music stand, singing from facsimiles of original choirbooks. This creates a unique perspective on the repertoire. In addition to regular concerts in the Netherlands and Belgium, Cappella Pratensis performs in leading international festivals and venues in France, Portugal, Germany and the United States. The ensemble also has also released several CD recordings which have been greeted with rave press reviews and awards, including the Diapason d’Or and the Prix Choc.