This triptych of Inviolata settings marks the beginning of The Marian Consort's new relationship with Linn, and serves as a kind of mission statement: questioning the music of the past; breathing new life into important, unjustly forgotten works; and using both as inspiration for new compositions.
Central to this digital release is the neglected composer and theorist Vicente Lusitano. Many details of his life remain unknown, but we can say with reasonable certainty that he was the first published composer of African descent. His 8-voice Inviolata is unmistakably indebted to the most influential musical figure of the High Renaissance, Josquin des Prez, whose 5-voice setting opens the recording. Roderick Williams' Inviolata (after Lusitano) closes the program with a retrospective—via quotations from Lusitano, Josquin, and Gregorian chant—and a forward-looking perspective, as it was originally conceived as a sound installation. This piece, commissioned by The Marian Consort and Classical Remix, showcases the ensemble's pioneering spirit as "brilliant discoverers and exponents of rare repertoire" (The Observer).
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