Huelgas Ensemble, Paul Van Nevel - Utopia Triumphans: The Great Polyphony of the Renaissance (1995)

A greatly expanded Huelgas Ensemble performs here a collection of multivoice works--pieces that are often referred to but, for logistical reasons, rarely performed. Tallis's famous Spem in alium non habui for 40 voices is here, of course; so is the piece that inspired it, Striggio's 40-voice Ecce beatam lucem. Also included are two extraordinary canons: Ockeghem's 36-voice Deo gratias and Josquin's 24-voice Qui habitat--as well as relatively modest pieces for 13 to 16 voices by Porta and Gabrieli. Spem has had livelier performances (try the Tallis Scholars on Gimell), but none of the others have been recorded elsewhere at all, let alone as well as this. You're not likely to hear them in concert, either, so check this disc out. --Matthew Westphal