Pierre de Manchicourt, a Franco-Flemish composer whose biography is largely obscure, was a transitional figure in Renaissance polyphony. He was one of the last great masters of intensely contrapuntal polyphony before a more homophonic style took hold in the mid-sixteenth century. The CD, featuring Stephen Rice conducting the Brabant Ensemble, a group of mixed voices created specifically to perform the mostly obscure repertoire of that transitional era, includes one of Manchicourt's many parody masses, as well as several of his motets and a canticle. A "parody" mass carried none of the contemporary pejorative connotations of the term; it was a mass that took as its source material the work of another composer, or even of a popular secular song. Manchicourt uses a polyphonic chanson by his countryman Jean Richafort, who was active a generation before him. For a work as richly contrapuntal as Manchicourt's, the mass is surprisingly open and transparent, allowing all of the voices to be clearly heard and understood. The inventiveness of Manchicourt's counterpoint and his creative and unpredictable use of dissonance make his work immediately appealing. The Brabant Ensemble sings with excellent blend and pure, sweet tone, but tends not to vary the dynamics as dramatically as they might, with extended sections sung at an undifferentiated mezzoforte. When the ensemble brings the dynamic down to its quietest level the effect is magical. Hyperion's sound is superlative, with just the right amount of resonance. ~ Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide
