Huelgas Ensemble, The psalms of Claude Le Jeune

Claude Le Jeune was considered by his contemporaries to be the rightful heir of Orlandus Lassus. But he was no bland imitator. As a convinced Huguenot, Le Jeune gave the psalm its own voice: rhythmically sharp, surprisingly chromatic, and driven by the cadence of the French language. Polyphony à la Le Jeune sounds both thoughtful and rebellious – like polyphony that is aware of the changing times and thus becomes highly charged itself. Huelgas Ensemble – for more than half a century the international reference in this repertoire – champions this underestimated composer. The singers make Le Jeunes psalms resonate with analytical sharpness and expressive freedom, entirely in the service of the man who pushed polyphonic Europe toward the future.