From the mid-seventeenth century to the first two decades of the eighteenth century, Rome experienced one of the most brilliant musical periods in its history. In this recording, the Ensemble Jacques Moderne works composed for a Vespers service, one of the principal moments of the Liturgy of the Hours, which consisted of a sequence of psalms and antiphons concluding with a Magnificat.

‘Iberia: Polyphonies Espagnoles et Portugaises de la Renaissance à Aujourd’Hui’ is a musical journey through time across the Iberian peninsula. From the medieval Spain of Alfonso The Wise to that of the Renaissance with Guerrero and Victoria, we are led to the Portugal of Lôbo and Cardoso, masters of the golden age of Portuguese polyphony. The voyage ends with two contemporary creations that continue this tradition, by the Portuguese António Chagas Rosa and the Spaniard Iván Solano.

Les éléments invite you to a winter evening, a musical journey from the Middle Ages to the present day where songs and poems celebrate winter, its festivals and its coldness, in the intimacy of the a cappella choir. The great composers of the repertoire rub shoulders with new compositions, arrangements of traditional Christmas songs from the provinces of France specially commissioned for this programme. Best enjoyed by the fireside!