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Cappella Pratensis

Cappella Pratensis is a durable ensemble specializing in the music of Josquin Desprez and other Renaissance composers. The group is notable for performances in which the members read music from original Renaissance notation. Cappella Pratensis uses historical research as a basis for its performances and recordings. The ensemble has a substantial recording catalog stretching over more than 30 years; it includes the 2024 release The Feast of the Swan: A Renaissance Brotherhood at Table.Cappella Pratensis was formed in the Netherlands in 1987 by Ludy Vrijdag and Rebecca Stewart; the latter departed in 2002, and since 2008, the group has been led by director Stratton Bull. Cappella Pratensis is named for composer Josquin Desprez (Desprez means "of the meadow" in French or "pratensis" in Latin). The group has a core membership of ten adult male singers, plus Bull, who also sings in the superius range. The modern style of the ensemble has been largely shaped by Bull, who emphasizes performances based on historical research. Almost alone among vocal ensembles specializing in Renaissance music, Cappella Pratensis sings from copies of works in their original notation rather than from modern choral editions. The group released its debut album, Missa Gaudeamus - Josquin des Prez, on the Jubal label. Since the 2011 album Vivat Leo! Music for a Medici Pope (which earned a Diapason d'Or award in France), the group has recorded for the Challenge Classics label.Cappella Pratensis has performed across Western and Eastern Europe, in the U.S., and as far afield as Colombia. The group served as ensemble-in-residence from 2005 to 2007 at France's Fondation Royaumont, giving concerts and masterclasses there. Cappella Pratensis is well known at festivals, including the Early Music Festival in Utrecht. In 2009, the ensemble released a video containing a re-creation of the original performance of Jacob Obrecht's Missa de Sancto Donatiano, filmed on location in Bruges, Belgium. In 2023, Cappella Pratensis released a prize-winning recording of Obrecht's Missa Maria zart, one of the longest and most challenging-to-perform Renaissance masses. Cappella Pratensis was tabbed by the Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Lady of 1318 to record music in its collection of perfectly preserved choirbooks from between 1450 and 1600 under a "Den Bosch Choirbooks" rubric. That series reached its fourth volume in 2024 with the Challenge Classics release The Feast of the Swan: A Renaissance Brotherhood at Table. Several members of Cappella Pratensis are active as faculty members in major university early music programs.
© James Manheim /TiVo

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Discography

13 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller

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