Artist(s)

The Dutch-based vocal ensemble Cappella Pratensis – literally ‘Cappella des prés’ – 
champions the music of Josquin Desprez 
and the polyphonists of the 15th and 16th centuries. The group combines historically informed performance practice with inventive programmes and original interpretations based on scholarly research and artistic insight. As in Josquin’s time, the members of Cappella Pratensis perform from a central music stand, singing from the original men-sural notation scored in a large choirbook. This approach, together with attention to 
the linguistic origin of the compositions and the modal system on which it is based, offers a unique perspective on the repertoire. Founded in 1987, the ensemble’s approach was largely established by its first conductor, Rebecca Stewart. Cappella Pratensis is now under the artistic direction of singer and conductor Stratton Bull, who succeeds other previous leaders Bart Demuyt and Peter Van Heyghen.

Besides regular appearances at concert 
venues in the Netherlands and Belgium, Cappella Pratensis has performed at leading international festivals in Utrecht, York, Regensburg, Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, Knechtsteden and Bre�ice. Tours have taken the group to the United States (including a week in residence at Harvard University), Canada and Japan. Cappella Pratensis has also made a series of CD recordings that have met with critical acclaim and distinctions from the press (including the Diapason d’Or and the Prix Choc). From 2005 to 2007, the group was ensemble-in-residence at the Fondation Royaumont (France), where it gave courses, presented concerts and worked with distinguished musicians. In 2008 Cappella Pratensis premiered a complete polyphonic mass (Missa Unitatis) by the award-winning British composer Antony Pitts. In 2009 the ensemble released a DVD/CD production around the Missa de Sancto Donatiano by Jacob Obrecht, which included a reconstruction of the first performance of the mass, filmed on location in Bruges together with substantial documentary material. This production was crowned with a Diapason découverte and the highest rating from Classica magazine (Fineline Classical FL72414).

Cappella Pratensis also passes on insights into vocal polyphony and performance from original notation – both among professionals and amateurs – through masterclasses, multi-media presentations, collaboration with institutions, an annual summer course and training young singers within the group itself.

Joshua Rifkin’s work as conductor, pianist, and harpsichordist has spanned music from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries. His recordings and concert performances with the Bach Ensemble, which he founded in 1978, set an internationally recognized mark for historically informed and musically vital interpretation of their namesake composer. He has received acclaim in many countries for performances with modern orchestras of Strauss, Stravinsky, and more recent composers; has directed ‘period’ ensembles in works of Monteverdi, Schütz, Haydn, and many others; and has led operatic productions in Switzerland and Germany. In 1999 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Dortmund for his contributions to Bach interpretation.
Joshua Rifkin has also published widely as a scholar, most notably in the fields of Renaissance and Baroque music. He has held guest seminars, workshops, and master classes at universities and conservatories throughout Europe, the U. S., and Japan, and holds a position as Professor of Music and Fellow of the University Professors Program at Boston University. His collaboration with Cappella Pratensis returns him for the first time in many years as a performer to Renaissance polyphony.

Composer(s)

Press

These are excellent interpretations, the sound of cappella catches with transparency, in spite of the tight compositions for eight voices.
Toccata