Palestrina, hailed through the centuries as "prince and father of music," wrote music of unsurpassed grace and beauty. Issued at the 400th anniversary of the master's death, this album by the acclaimed Gloria Dei Cantores choir contains the only existing recording of his Missa Descendit Angelus Domini and the rarely performed Missa Beatae Mariae Virginis II, and six other motets, derived from chant and intended to draw the listeners attention to the liturgy and the text. Super Flumina Babylonis, Ad Te levavi oculos meos, Miserere nostri Domine, Sicut cervus, and Sitivit anima mea, are performed by a smaller ensemble drawn from the larger choir, in accordance with the style and acoustic ambience of Palestrinian polyphony.

GLORIÆ DEI CANTORES, an internationally acclaimed choir of over forty voices, ranging in age from seventeen to seventy, is dedicated to preserving and authentically interpreting great choral music from the eleventh to the twenty-first centuries. Founded in 1988, Gloriæ Dei Cantores has touched the hearts of audiences in twenty-three countries in Europe, Asia, and North America. They sing in eighteen languages and have a discography of more than fifty recordings.

"This group deserves all the praise it gets for its recordings and international concert tours. It is a remarkable achievement."
-- J.F.Weber, Fanfare 

"If we ever have had a finer Palestrina recording available, I've not heard it."
-- In Tune Magazine

"Hypnotically beautiful. . .luscious, expansive realizations of Palestrina's music
-- American Record Guide

"There is a depth of emotion these singers bring to their work that goes beyond mere professional performance practice. The freshness and immediacy here breathes life back into the veins of history. Truly beautiful singing."
-- Harmonia Early Music Newsletter