Happily, there are more and more early music recordings that satisfy both the music lover and the musicologist, although whether or not they coincide in the same person is another matter. Of course, in an ideal situation there would rarely be any dichotomy between the two, as has been the case with the music of later periods in recent years. This recording sets an example of how things should be done, no doubt thanks in good measure to the dual roles of The Brabant Ensemble’s musical director, who is both a knowledgeable musicologist and an outstanding performer.

In addition to the quality of the recording, the charm of this CD lies in the programme and its author Thomas Crecquillon, Emperor Charles V’s favourite composer, who is thought to have been royal chapel master from 1540 to 1545. Widowed in 1539, the emperor was going through a difficult period in his life, and Crecquillon expressed his royal master’s emotions better than any other composer in his setting of the short, heartfelt poem entitled Mort m’a privé, believed to have been written by Charles himself.

Crecquillon set the piece twice, once for four voices and again for five, the latter providing the basis for his highly symbolic Mass, a provenance eloquently explained in the booklet accompanying the CD. The recording includes both the Mass and the two song settings which symbolise the imperial couple, as well as a number of other pieces by the composer that are in one way or another connected with the core subject of a programme that is both intellectually and musically attractive. MARICARMEN GÓMEZ