Infelix Ego Mass for 5 Voices & Motets

Philippe Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale Gent present their third project for Phi focussing on vocal music of the Renaissance. This time, it is the English composer William Byrd (c.1540-1623) who is being honoured. The title of the programme is that of Byrds motet Infelix ego, one of the greatest artistic statements of the 16th century. Its text is a meditation on Psalm 50, written by the Dominican Girolamo Savonarola, a remarkable man who waged a campaign against the corrupt Medici family in Florence. Taking the form of several rhetorical questions and assertions, the text describes all the emotions felt by a tormented soul: guilt, fear, embarrassment, anger but above all the gift of deliverance upon acceptance of Christs mercy. Byrd seems to have felt a powerful emotional connection with the words. The Collegium Vocale Gent also presents the Mass for 5 Voices and a selection of motets by Byrd, along with Alfonso Ferraboscos Peccantem me quotidie a5 and Philippus de Montes Miserere mei a5.