Ockeghem: Missa Caput, Missa Ma Maistresse, 3 Motets / The Clerks' Group, Wickham
This isn't merely one of the best Ockeghem records around, it's one of the most valuable. Neither of these Masses has been recorded before, and they challenge the stereotype of Ockeghem the cerebral old mystic writing dense, demanding music. A relatively high tessitura and lively rhythms make the MissaMa maistresse, based on one of Ockeghem's own chansons (also recorded here, and quite nicely), seem almost cheery. (Sadly, only the Kyrie and Gloria have survived.) The rather more serene MissaCaputis one of several late-15th-century Masses (Obrechtwrote another) based on a lengthy plainchant fragment (set to the word "caput") from the Maundy Thursday liturgy; they all follow in the footsteps ofa popular 15th-century English Massbased on the same chant melody. With somewhat quicker tempos and more pointed phrasing than most other choirs use in this repertory, Wickham and the Clerks' Group make Ockeghem's music seem a real pleasure both to sing and to hear--an accomplishment at least as valuable as having recorded these two beautiful Masses for the first time.--Matthew Westphal