Beyond Chant: Mysteries of the Renaissance

Works of: Giovanni Pierluigi Da Palestrina, Josquin Desprez, Orlande de Lassus, Lodovico Viadana, Tomas Luis de Victoria, William Byrd, Jan Pieterzoon Sweelinck, Conductus, Thomas Tallis, Orlando Gibbons, Heinrich Schütz, Leonardo Leo, Adrian Batten, Christopher Tye, Hans Leo Hassler

Voices of Ascension
Dennis Keene
Alessandra Visconti, soprano
Kathy Etherington, soprano

Recorded 20-bit
Timeline of Renaissance composers on back cover of program booklet
Complete texts of musical selections

"O Magnum Mysterium" (Oh Great Mystery) begins one of the masterpieces heard on this album, spelling out the spiritual inspiration behind all sacred Renaissance music.

"I think that as our modern lives get more and more noisy and cluttered we yearn for a more peaceful and transcendent world. Perhaps that explains the recent interest in the antique music of the church: the music heard in the old basilicas, cathedrals and monasteries of Europe.

"This particular recording came into being because of the remarkable reaction to the two Renaissance works on our first CD, 'Mysteries Beyond' (formerly 'Ave Maria'). Many of our listeners said 'let's have a whole album of Renaissance music'"

- Dennis Keene, from the booklet notes