Pierre de Manchicourt - Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus (Gli Angeli Genève; Stephan MacLeod)

Information

Composer: Pierre de Manchicourt

1. Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus: I. Kyrie
2. O cruaulté logée en grand beaulté
3. O Virgo Virginum
4. Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus: II. Gloria
5. O Thoma Didyme
6. Long temps mon cueur languissoit
7. Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus: III. Credo
8. Faulte dargent cest douleur non pareille
9. Maria Magdalene
10. Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus: IV. Sanctus
11. Reges Terrae congregati sunt
12. Usquequo piger dormies
13. Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus: V. Agnus Dei

Gli Angeli Genève

Stephan MacLeod, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: Aparté

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Although little known today, Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer Pierre de Manchicourt was celebrated by contemporaries like François Rabelais as one of the preeminent masters of his era. In this release, ensemble Gli Angeli Genève restores Manchicourt’s legacy by framing his masterwork, the Missa Veni Sancte Spiritus, with a selection of his motets and chansons. The album highlights Manchicourt's distinctive compositional voice, defined by dense, expressive polyphony and striking harmonic audacities. Through these compelling performances, Gli Angeli Genève sheds crucial light on a uniquely inventive figure in sixteenth-century sacred and secular music, inviting listeners to rediscover a forgotten master of Renaissance polyphony.

Pierre de Manchicourt (c. 1510–1564) was a prominent Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer whose career spanned key musical centers in Arras, Tours, Tournai, and the Madrid court of Philip II. Writing primarily masses, motets, and chansons, Manchicourt uniquely reflected the evolution of sixteenth-century motet style within his own oeuvre, incorporating the early influences of Ockeghem, the paired imitation of Josquin des Prez, and the dense, pervasive polyphony of Gombert. As a traveling master who brought northern European polyphonic techniques to Spain, Manchicourt served as a vital figure in establishing a unified international style across Renaissance Europe.

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