FRENCHMAN Josquin des Prez — more commonly known as Josquin and regarded as one of the most important of the early Renaissance composers — was a creator of both religious and secular choral works.

Believed to have been born c1450-1455 in what is now Belgium, he spent most of his working life creating a succession of highly regarded motets and masses in Italy.

He worked at the Sistine Chapel at around the same time Michelangelo was creating his Last Judgement ceiling mural before moving on to take charge of music at court in Ferrara. He spent his last days in Conde, north-eastern France, where he died in 1521.

The 500th anniversary of his death is marked in fine style by this new anthology by the Oxford-based Brabant Ensemble, a 13-strong choir led by Stephen Rice.

Recorded at St Silas the Martyr in London’s Kentish Town early last year, the album opens with a joyous and serene interpretation of the Annunciation sequence Mittit ad virginem, most likely an early Josquin piece.

The Alma redemptoris mater, Ave regina caelorum which follows uses two plainsong melodies simultaneously, with the soprano and bass voices mostly singing the Alma redemptoris and the alto and tenor the Ave regina.

The tempo slows for the haunting and brooding anguish of Huc me sydereo, to words written by the Italian humanist poet Maffeo Vegio. The meditation on the Passion of Christ finds the Ensemble singing with intense passion, with particularly strong descending passages from the basses.

It’s followed by the slow and equally compelling Stabat mater a 6 and the album concludes with two freestanding Mass movements, Gloria de beata virgine and Sanctus de Passione.

Rice and his singers capture so well Josquin’s emotional, spiritual drive. The ensemble’s sound is clean and bright throughout with sopranos, altos, tenors and basses well balanced and the Latin diction, in an uncomplicated acoustic mix, is clear.

And Rice’s detailed liner notes are a useful summary of the scholarly debates surrounding the music.

Released on Hyperion.