Performers: Egidius Kwartet [Peter de Groot (alto); Otto Bouwknegt (tenor) ; Hans Wijers (baritone); Donald Bentvelsen (bass); Maria Luz Alvarez (soprano, tracks 1,2,4,6,8,10,11,13,16,18,21,22); Robert Getchell (tenor, track 11)]
Playing time: 69:30
Recording date: September 1999
Cornelius Canis (1506-1561) and Nicolas Payen (1512-1559) were important composers at the court of Charles V. Both left a relatively modest output and have generally been ignored by scholars until recently, in spite of the fact that the quality of their works compares well with that of their contemporaries. Canis was born in Ghent, Payen in French-speaking Soignes, though both spent many years abroad. In 1542, Canis replaced Crecquillon as chapelmaster to Charles V. Canis resigned his post in 1556 upon Phillip's succession to Charles V's Spanish possessions, at which time Payen replaced him as chapelmaster, a post Payen retained until his death. Many of the chansons (especially Payen's Hau de par dieu, ma mye) seem exceptionally risqué, even for the Renaissance. Payen's Carole, cur defles is a moving lament on the death of Charles' wife, while his Quis dabit capiti, a setting (like Isaac's) of Poliziano's lament on the death of Lorenzo di Medici, may have been written as an indirect way of paying homage to Isaac.
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Christopher Schifani