tracks

Tribulationes Civitatum Audivimus
Suscipe Verbum, Virgo Maria
Haec Dies Quam Fecit Dominus
Ego Sum Panis Vitae
O Salutaris Hostia
Veni Sponsa Christi
Salve Sponsa Dei
Hodie Simon Petrus
Ave Sanctissima Maria
Sicut Lilium Inter Spinas
Angelus Domini Descendit
Felix Namque Es
Angustiae Mihi Sunt
O Beate Christi Confessor
Iste Est Joannes
Angeli Archangeli Troni

notes

Musica Secreta: Sopranos: Katherine Carson, Sally Dunkley, Yvonne Eddy, Hanna Ely, Katherine Hawnt, Deborah Roberts; Mezzo-Sopranos: Nancy Cole, Bethany Horak-Hallett; Altos: Kim Porter, Caroline Trevor; Organ: Claire Williams; Bass viol: Alison Kinder.
Celestial Sirens: Sopranos: Claire Ashton, Nara Clapperton, Lilla Grindlay, Jenny Hansell, Emily Murphy, Victoria Rowcroft, Rachel Taylor, Rosie Taylor, Chloë Wennersten; Altos: Elspeth Barnett, Maria Birch, Kat Elliott, Sebastian Blue Pin, Silvia Resefgetti, Kate Rouse.
Recorded at Bishop Edward King Chapel, Ripon College, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, 22–26 August 2016.
Organ provided by Steven Devine.
Organ tuning by Edmund Pickering.
Editions by Laurie Stras, Deborah Roberts, and Sally Dunkley.
Cover image: Portrait of Lucrezia Borgia (oil on canvas), Pintutticchio, Bernardino Di Betto (c. 1452-1513) / Borgia Apartments, Vatican Palace, Vatican City / © Leemage / Bridgeman Images.
℗ & © 2017 Classical Communications Ltd.
Made in Great Britain
www.obsidianrecords.co.uk

From the back cover: Suor Leonora d’Este (1515–1575), Lucrezia Borgia’s daughter, was a princess, a nun, and a musician. She left little to illuminate her history, but an obscure book of motets may at least help us understand her musical life: the Musica quinque vocum motteta materna lingua vocata, published in Venice in 1543. The book is anonymous, but it contains clues to its origins that lead us to the door of Leonora d’Este’s home, the convent of Corpus Domini in Ferrara, perhaps even suggesting that she was its unidentified composer.
This music is the earliest published polyphony for nuns. This recording by Musica Secreta and Celestial Sirens allows it to be heard for the first time through carefully researched performances.

credits

Directed By – Deborah Roberts
Directed By, Liner Notes, Translated By, Co-producer – Laurie Stras
Engineer, Producer – David Lefeber
Ensemble – Celestial Sirens, Musica Secreta

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