Music for Charles V
 

Chapelle du Roi
directed by Alistair Dixon

Pedorraclassica.splinder.com

"L'uomo armato dovrebbe essere temuto, dovunque è stato proclamato che dovunque, ogni uomo dovrebbe armarsi di lettere di ferro"

Siamo all'undicesimo lavoro della Chapelle du Roi. Questa registrazione offre, dopo la serie dedicata a Thomas Tallis, delle melodie riguardanti la vita e il ragno di Carlo V, sicuramente il più potente uomo vissuto in Europa nel sedicesimo secolo. Carlo era un devoto cattolico, e molti dei compositori come Cristòbal Morales, Josquin des Pres, Nicolas Gambert, hanno realizzato dei brani per celebrare le conquiste politiche.

Cristhian Scorrano

International Record Review, March 2005

Taking us into the sixteenth century is 'Music for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor' from Chapelle du Roi and Alistair Dixon. Charles (1500-58), Spanish King and much else besides, became the most powerful man in Europe. He was cultivated too, and valued music, employing some of the most eminent composers of the age. We get to hear six motets - several written for specific occasions in Charles's life - as well as the magnificent Missa 'L'homme armé' by Spaniard Cristóbal de Morales. Chapelle du Roi (14-strong here) sings with clarity, purpose and (as in Morales's Jubilate Deo) real passion.

Simon Heighes

ClassicsToday.com
Artistic Quality - 9, Sound Quality - 8

This program purports to bring together music that "spans the life and reign" of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, written by composers who either were especially prominent during this period (early-to-mid-1500s) or in some way were associated with Charles' court. One connection lies in the Emperor's affiliation with the chivalric Order of the Golden Fleece, among whose activities was the commissioning of music, and, as explained in the informative notes, in various ways was responsible for fostering the proliferation of the "L'homme armé" tune (a sort of Renaissance-style "Onward Christian Soldiers") and the extensive tradition of mass settings based on it, one of which--a splendid version by Morales--begins this program. Other highlights include a sublime Ave Maria by Josquin, with its stark, open-fifth ending, and Gombert's lovely, flowing motet Qui colis Ausoniam (written for the occasion of a 1533 treaty involving Charles, the Pope, and various Italian rulers). As usual with this choir, the singing is first rate, with well-maintained balances, even in the widely-spaced scoring of the Crecquillon motet and in the shifts from smaller to larger voice groupings within works. The sound is generally very good, with some harshness in the louder, upper-register soprano sections of the Crecquillon.

David Vernier