I didn't actually appreciate this album much when it first appeared. More specifically, I wasn't that taken by the program, which not only featured works that've been recorded often, but mixed in some (also already well covered...) instrumental/secular pieces, and all in a big sound. The thing is, upon listening to the Anniversary albums more, I ended up enjoying this issue the most — just in the basic sense of musical enjoyment in the moment. Maybe nothing here was really needed again on record, and maybe the performance choices aren't what I'd've made, but the result is assertive & compelling.
And Da Col has produced a number of related programs over the years, actually a rather sparse output, but often involving Josquin. It appears he kept thinking, because his approach here does seem fresh — not novel, but not only rehashing older ideas either. Rather, there's a continued rethinking & articulation along similar lines.
The mass, in particular, just had a superb reading by the Tallis Scholars! But that all-vocal reading, crisp in its phonemes, is also very different from this big, flowing setting.... I don't think I'll actually ever prefer the latter style in general, but it's effective here. (These are probably the two most compelling readings of a Josquin mass cycle, and they're of the same mass. Oh well.) And then the opening Praeter rerum seriem, albeit for large forces, is instantly one of the great Josquin tracks.... I don't feel that the program comes together quite to the level of promise of the first few tracks here, but it does pack a punch. (They're also amazingly light in the 12v — dubious — Inviolata setting to close....)
So I guess I enjoy this album in spite of myself. (And it also underscores that we don't have systematic coverage of Josquin on disc.)
Todd M. McComb Updated: 27 January 2022