Cappella Pratensis - Josquin des Prez: Inviolata, integra et casta es Maria

Cappella Pratensis sings Josquin des Prez's Inviolata, integra et casta es Maria in the Speelklok Museum in Utrecht

One of the great Franco-Flemish composer Josquin des Prez's most famous works, the text and canonic cantus firmus are taken from the Marian Sequence of the same name.

This performance took place as part of a project designed to explore the role of the carillon and bell culture more generally in the Low Countries. The earliest report of a melody played in the open air on such bells is found in 1479 in the Norbertine Park Abbey close to Leuven, during which the Inviolata melody was played each hour from the church tower.

The Inviolata melody is here played on an original Carillon originally made in Zierikzee between 1550-1600, now housed in the Speelklok Museum in Utrecht. For more information see:

https://speelklok.adlibhosting.com/ai...

The text of the sequence is as follows:

Prima pars:
Inviolata, integra et casta es Maria:
Quae es effecta fulgida caeli porta.
O Mater alma Christi carissima:
Suscipe pia laudum praeconia.

Inviolate, whole and chaste are you, Mary:
you are the shining gate of heaven.
O kind mother, dearest to Christ,
accept our faithful hymns of praise.

Secunda pars:
Te nunc flagitant devota corda et ora:
Nostra ut pura pectora sint et corpora.
Tua per precata dulcisona:
Nobis concedas veniam per saecula.

To you our hearts and lips cry out:
may our souls and bodies be pure.
Through your prayers' sweet sounds
grant us forgiveness for ever.

Tertia pars
O benigna! O Regina! O Maria!
Quae sola inviolata permansisti.

O kindly one! O Queen! O Mary!
you alone remain inviolate.

Recording by Cappella Pratensis in the Speelklok Museum (Utrecht.) Recorded by Andrew Hopper and Viktoria Nikolova on the 3rd of March 2025.

Superius: Tim Braithwaite (artistic director and conductor), Andrew Hallock
Altus: Lior Leibovici
Tenor Primus: Peter de Laurentiis (co-artistic director)
Tenor Secundus: Marc Busnel
Bassus: Jonty Coy

With thanks to the following who made this project possible:

Provincie Noord-Brabant
Gemeente 's-Hertogenbosch
Simac
The Alamire Foundation
Museum Speelklok
Prof. M. Jennifer Bloxam