[USED:Cond.A] Volle Kraft Voraus

This disc revolves around the doings of the Council of Trent, which convened between 1545 and 1563 to debate the future of the Roman Catholic Church. Concerned about the spread of the Reformation in Europe, some factions believed that reevaluation was necessary in all aspects of church life, including music and art. They felt that liturgical music had gotten too noisy and secular, with popular songs woven into masses, and that vocal polyphony had become too erudite and difficult to comprehend, indeed, the hard-liners wanted instruments banished altogether and singing restricted to chant.
Ultimately, the Church issued only a general pronouncement that things "impure or lascivious" be forbidden, but the effect of the Council was to promote a smoother, more conservative musical style. All the pieces on this CD were written by composers who served the potentates assembled at Trent, some of them may have actually been heard there as examples of what new church music should sound like. There is surprising variety, from the balanced harmony of the Flemish Cipriano De Rore to the pungent chromaticism of Neapolitan theorist Nicola Vicentino. This is the third volume of an interesting series featuring dedicated performances by Vox Hesperia of Bologna.