Striggio Mass in 40 Parts etc 
I Fagiolini et al / Robert Hollingworth Decca 4782734

Alessandro Striggio was a well-travelled diplomat as well as a composer, performing his opulent polychoral music around Europe. It was during a visit to London that either his 40-part Missa Ecco sì beato giorno or his 40-part motet Ecce beatam lucem motivated Tallis to respond competitively with Spem in alium. I Fagiolini’s massed voices and plethora of Renaissance instrumentalists recreate textures such as those Striggio might have expected and reviewer Fabrice Fitch wrote that these performances “revel in the showy splendour of it all” and -illustrate the music’s “variegated plumage”.

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