Ensemble Gilles Binchois, Dominique Vellard, Andreas Scholl - Vox Naturalis. Medieval Vocal Music (4 CD Set) (2005)

During the Middle Ages, the most important theoreticians wrote that music was produced by two types of voices: the vox artificialis, which was the sound of the instruments, and the vox naturalis, which was the sound produced by the human voice. This distinction between what was considered artificial and what was seen natural indicated that it was generally assumed that the human voice was the purest instrument, and thus the most perfect and appropriate for the liturgy, too. The present anthology contains some of the most beautiful Cantus CDs, that illustrate three essential moments in the history of music: Gregorian Chant, the early polyphonies and their evolution in the works of Leonin, Perotin and their followers of the Notre Dame School, and Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame, the first complete polyphonic Mass cycle known. It is, thus, a magical travel through the art of the vocal medieval music, guided by Ensemble Gilles Binchois, under Dominique Vellard, unanimously considered as the most important specialist of these repertoires. These CDs recreate the essential traits of the memory of the Occidental medieval vocal art and rediscovers the unique mysticism, expressivity and mystery of medieval chant.