CDs dedicated to early music tend more and more to be anthologies of unrelated pieces grouped together with a clever title. That may be the case, but unless we are offered something new, the content often ends up confusing and is enlivened only by an exceptional performance. Compared to the order that rules in recordings of classical-Romantic music, recordings of early music are much less so. Added to this defect, let’s call it, comes another –that of apartheid that targets early music with regard to that which follows it in time.

Gui Janssens serves up a new idea, one as necessary as it is useful: recording a history of the Requiem in four volumes with the goal of providing an overall view of what might well be the most significant genre in the history of music. The first volume, with Ockeghem’s Requiem, probably the first to be conceived polyphonically and the Missa pro defunctis in 5 parts by Lassus (16th century), is to be followed by other volumes with works of this genre from the 17th to the 21st centuries. The very act of conceiving the history of western music as a continuum and not in self-contained compartments is worthy of praise. And if we add to this excellent performances, rich in nuances that highlight the good taste and sensitivity of the musician, as well as a desire to offer a product that is both useful and of high-quality, one can only applaud. MARICARMEN GÓMEZ