Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

When Francisco Pacheco, the father-in-law of Velazquez, was asked to name the leading composer of his age his immediate choice was not Palestrina, Lassus, Byrd or even Victoria but Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599). We are reasonably certain that, were it to come to a vote today, Guerrero would not take the prize but listening to this CD does give us pause for thought and suggests that claims on behalf of Guerrero are not without merit. A word of warning: this recording was first issued in 1999 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the composer's death. That it has been re-released - and at mid-price - is cause for celebration but beware of inadvertently buying a duplicate. Richard Cheetham, director of the Orchestra Of The Renaissance, and his guest conductor Michael Noone, have attempted to reconstruct a performance of the composer's 1582 Requiem as it might have been played at Guerrero's own funeral in Seville Cathedral in November 1599, here recorded at St Jude-on-the-hill, London, in February 1999. Not being a time-traveller I cannot comment on its verisimilitude but, to my ears at least, it sounds convincing. We open with a lovely ensemble of Renaissance instruments such as sackbuts and shawms and then move in to a sequence of chants and polyphonic singing. There is too much chanting for my taste but I concede that it is done well and those that enjoy plainchant will enjoy this. It is the polyphony that sets the service alight though and one can see why Senor Pacheco rated Guerrero so highly when the vocal octet bursts into life. Yes, this is a musical and historical curiosity but it is one that is worth hearing and the composer deserves to be remembered.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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