Missa pro defunctis. Requiem. I. Kyrie Eustache Du Caurroy

Requiem Des Rois de France
Missa pro defunctis Requiem
Eustache du Caurroy
(February 4, 1549 - August 7, 1609)
Requiem pour les funérailles d'Henri IV : et Musiques du règne du roi de France et de Navarre
Missa pro defunctis, first performed at the funeral of Henry IV of France, was the requiem mass which was played at St. Denis for the funerals of French kings for the next several centuries.
Eustache du Caurroy is one of the unacknowledged masters of French Renaissaice polyphony whose works are rarely performed, due in part to the general lack of accessible or reliable editions. The majority of his compositions were for liturgical use - probably at the French Royal Court during the reigns of the successive monarchs Charles IX, Henri III and Henri IV. The motets recorded here illustrate two contrasting styles of vocal writing: imitative polyphony and 'musique mesurée', the former equating to the familiar, pan-European idiom of Palestrina and his later Renaissance contemporaries, the latter outlining protracted chord-against chord movement reflecting the natural stress-patterns of the words. The Missa pro Defunctis, the major work on this disc, was first performed at the funeral of Henri IV and remained for many years the official requiem sung at funerals of French monarchs.
Check out this Eustache du Caurroy masterpiece:
5 Fantasias on ‘Une jeune fillette’. Eustache du Caurroy
• 5 Fantasias on ‘Une je...