Johannes Regis has undoubtedly written more, but the music on this double CD is all that has survived. The two masses have been recorded before, the rest can now be heard on CD for the first time. Regis became famous with his motets: these are the first attempts in music history to realize long five-part works. They were examples for composers like Josquin and Obrecht, and on this CD we can finally
… hear what appealed to them in Regis's music. The conductor and bass Edward Wickham has already released a large series of enthusiastically received CDs with his 'Clerk's Group', including the complete religious repertoire of Johannes Ockeghem (a generation colleague of Regis). Now this ensemble has apparently been transformed into 'The Clerks' - and moreover switched to a Belgian label. But otherwise not much has changed in the sound and approach: the typically English, more than flawless intonation is combined as always with a fairly dry and direct recording. Some may find this a bit business or clinical, but the clarity reveals the structure of the music beautifully. (TC)more