Oxford Camerata, Jeremy Summerly - Obrecht: Salve Regina / Missa Caput (1997)

He may not be well-known today, but in his own time (the late 15th century) Jacob Obrecht was nearly as respected a composer as Josquin des Prez himself. (In fact, Obrecht was Josquin's successor at the court of the Duke of Ferrara). Obrecht's music has a wide expressive range, from somber to serene to jubilant, with rhapsodic, often soaring melodies. His sacred pieces tend to be long--the Missa Caput runs 45 minutes, each Salve Regina 15 minutes--and it's easy for performers to lose the music's focus. Yet Summerly always maintains the melodic momentum and shows us the music's sensual beauty as well as its spirituality. On earlier discs the Oxford Camerata has sometimes sounded unpolished and/or uninvolved--a poor man's Tallis Scholars; here they sing with accurate tuning and clear tone, sounding every bit the equals of their higher-priced colleagues. This would be a worthwhile record at full price; at Naxos's budget price it's extraordinary. --Matthew Westphal