Dionysos Now - Missa Inviolata (2022) Hi-Res

The ensemble Dionysos Now! present the wonderfully captivating vocal polyphony of the Renaissance: the repertoire of Adriaen Willaert, born in Roeselare (Belgium), founder of the Venetian School.

The warm reception and positive feedback we received after the release of our debut album Adriano 1 inspired us to delve further into the unexplored work of this Flemish master. Our fascination with Adriaen Willaert's seemingly endless radiant oeuvre led us to this beautiful, polyphonic monument of a mass. The combination with the other works on this LP is no accident: it makes clear that the composer knew exactly what was going on musically in Venice, even outside the church walls of St. Mark's Basilica. He transformed folk songs, the Canzone Villanesche, into four-part musical gems that to this day leave no one untouched. It is striking how differently Willaert transforms sacred texts on the one hand and secular songs on the other into gripping compositions.

For example, the mass has a polyphonic structure: one voice begins, the second voice imitates, embellishes, and passes the torch to a third, fourth, and fifth voice. The result is a web of melodies that seem to have no end. The text is difficult to understand, but here and there one recognizes a snippet of the main melody, the Gregorian melody "Benedicta es," on which all the movements of this Missa Benedicta are based.

The chansons are different: they sound polyphonic, but highly rhythmic. Everyone sings the same text at the same time, so that one can hear and understand the texts of the individual verses very well.