Bremen Weser-Renaissance & Manfred Cordes - Morales: O Magnum Mysterium (2013)

Yet another Christmas release features the Christmas vocal polyphony of Cristobal de Morales, who is regarded as the first significant Spanish composer of the Renaissance. Like most compositions for this Christian feast, his Christmas motets circulated and were performed throughout Europe, traveling far beyond Spain's borders. His archaic, mystical and expressive musical language, that one almost might term place-less and timeless, must have played a role in this dissemination. Moreover, Morales was active not only in Spanish cathedrals but also spent many years of his creative career as a papal singer in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. And it seems to have been precisely this individual blend of Spanish expressiveness and Roman strictness - with its added Franco-Flemish stamp - that makes Morales' music so unique and qualifies him as the first genuine European composer of his times.