Les Maîtres du Motet (Live)

We’re back at the turn of the 18th century here. Two wonderfully characterful but little-known composers offer music of striking luminosity and restrained fervor. Sébastien de Brossard’s magical setting of the *Stabat mater*, written in 1702 when he was Chapel Master in Meaux, curls gloriously up into the roof of Normandy’s L’Abbaye de Lessay, the individual voices beautifully focused. Pierre Bouteiller is represented by his *Missa pro defunctis*, one of very few pieces by him that survive—and what a gem it is. Glorious performances by Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew.