Sorensen & Ockeghem: Requiem Ars Nova Copenhagen & Paul Hillier

• Bent Sorensen: Requiem
• 1 Requiem Memento mei Deus (Responsorium) 02:15
• Johannes Ockeghem: Missa pro defunctis
• 2 Introitus 04:51
• 3 Kyrie 04:31
• Johannes Ockeghem: Rex tremendae (plainchant) - Recordare Jesu pie - Juste judex (plainchant)
• 4 Rex tremendae (plainchant) - Recordare Jesu pie - Juste judex (plainchant) 05:04
• Bent Sorensen: Lacrimosa
• 5 Lacrimosa 05:22
• Missa pro defunctis
• 6 Graduale 05:54
• 7 Tractus 08:15
• Requiem
• 8 Requiem Sanctus 01:34
• Bent Sorensen: Benedictus
• 9 Benedictus 05:43
• Mass Text: Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
• 10 Agnus Dei 01:16
• Missa pro defunctis
• 11 Missa pro defunctis Offertorium 09:40
• Bent Sorensen: In Paradisum
• 12 In Paradisum 07:01
• Total Runtime 01:01:26

Info for Sorensen & Ockeghem: Requiem

The 500 years that separate Renaissance master Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1410-97) and Danish composer Bent Sørensen (b. 1958) seem to disappear in this extraordinary Requiem which is a totality integrated both dramatically and musically; a work that unites the stylistic contrasts in a mode of expression that seems at once timeless and entirely present. The project has been initiated by conductor Paul Hillier and interpreted by his GRAMMY-winning ensemble Ars Nova Copenhagen.

”As the earliest surviving example of a famous genre, a certain mystique attaches to Ockeghem’s Requiem, which now boasts an impressive discography. But there’s no getting around the fact (and I’ve tried to) that it is a strange work, its distinct sections very disparate stylistically. (...) That said, there are moments of invention that one struggles to associate with anyone else and which Ockeghem himself rarely surpassed: the duos in the Gradual and Tract, or the four-voice sections of the Offertory. No wonder it has attracted so many recordings and, as in Ars Nova Copenhagen’s offering, responses from modern composers.”

'Paul Hillier was the Hilliard’s director when they recorded Ockeghem’s Requiem and his view of the work has hardly changed, though the ensemble he now leads is very different. So, rather than reinvent the wheel, Hillier intersperses its movements (never intended to be heard continuously) with pieces by the Danish composer Bent Sørensen that draw on or extend the Requiem theme. Because of Sørensen’s smooth transitions from plainchant-inspired duos to resonant, richly dissonant harmony, the dialogue with Ockeghem (who alternates differently scored sections in much the same way) is very nicely managed. True, my preference in the latter is for all-male ensemble, but the trans-historical polyphonic project proposed here is more than sufficient compensation. Those who know their polyphony, by the way, will enjoy Sørensen’s splicing and looping together of Sanctus settings by Monteverdi and Ockeghem. Well, it made me smile.” (Fabrice Fitch, Gramophone)

'Outstanding performances and recording.' 'CHORAL & SONG CHOICE' of BBC Music Magazine, October 2012. (BBC Music Magazine 'CHORAL & SONG CHOICE' October 2012)

'shoots straight into the soul and lingers long in the mind.' (Music Web International)

Ars Nova Copenhagen
Paul Hillier, conductor

Recorded in August 2006 (Ockeghem) and March 2011 (Sørensen)
Recording producers: Preben Iwan, Claus Due and Mikkel Nymand
Sound engineers: Preben Iwan and Mikkel Nymand

Award: BBC Music Magazine, Choral & Song Choice, October 2012

Ars Nova Copenhagen
is widely recognized as one of the finest vocal ensembles in Europe. Founded in 1979, the ensemble today is busier than ever. In addition to its annual season of concerts in Copenhagen and throughout Denmark, the ensemble regularly appears across Europe, and in North and South America. At the heart of Ars Nova Copenhagen's work is its equal dedication to early music and new music. Some programs explore the cross-currents between the two, while others form detailed portraits of individual composers or genres within a given period.

Since its beginning, Ars Nova has worked closely with some of the most important Danish and Scandinavian composers like Per Nørgård, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Bent Sørensen, Sven-David Sandström, and each season, the group invites a composer in residence: Toivo Tulev (Estonia) in 2007, Bernd Franke (Germany) 2008, Sunleif Rasmussen (Faroe Islands) 2009, Áskell Másson (Iceland) 2010 and Steve Martland (England) 2011.

Ars Nova is also building collaborations with creative artists in different fields such as drama, film and ballet, as well as cultivating new modes of concert performance and innovative repertoire. Besides the concerts, Ars Nova produces a number of CDs each year - both on its own record label, Ars Nova Records, and for labels such as Dacapo Records and Harmonia Mundi. Ars Nova Copenhagen is sponsored by The Danish Cultural Ministry, the Danish Association of Professional Choruses and a number of private Danish foundations.

Paul Hillier
has been Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Ars Nova Copenhagen since 2003. Founding director of the Hilliard Ensemble, and subsequently of Theatre of Voices, Paul Hillier's career has embraced singing, conducting, and writing about music. His books about Arvo Pärt and Steve Reich, and numerous anthologies of choral music, are published by Oxford University Press.

Paul Hiller has taught at the University of California at Santa Cruz and Davis, and from 1996-2003 was Director of the Early Music Institute at Indiana University. In 2006 Paul Hillier was awarded an OBE for services to choral music, and in 2007 he received the Order of the White Star of Estonia, and was awarded a GRAMMY for Best Choral Recording (with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir).

In 2008 he was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, and in 2009 was invited to form the new Coro Casa da Musica in Porto, Portugal. He won a second GRAMMY in 2010 (with Theatre of Voices and Ars Nova Copenhagen), this time in the category for Best Small Ensemble Performance, and in 2012 he was nominated in the category Best Choral Performance (also with Ars Nova Copenhagen).

Booklet for Sorensen & Ockeghem: Requiem