The Suspicious Cheese Lords

The Suspicious Cheese Lords was founded by Clifton "Skip" West in 1996. Skip had the typical American dream of wanting to sing Thomas Tallis' Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah. To accomplish this goal, he enticed a core group of five amateur singers, friends who were current and former members of the Cathedral Choral Society, by promising a home-cooked dinner to those who would come and bellow. Since then, the Cheese Lords have consisted of between 10 and 15 members. They still gather in Skip's dining room once a week to sing, drink, talk, eat, drink, sing, and did we say drink? In spite of this—or perhaps because of it—this male a cappella ensemble has been able to prepare and perform high-quality and heart-felt music throughout the Washington area.

Although the Lords specialize in music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, their repertoire ranges from Gregorian chant to original compositions. From 1998 to 2006, the Cheese Lords served as the choir in residence for major services at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C. Additional service credits include the Cathedral of St. Matthew, Church of the Epiphany (G Street), the Church of the Holy Redeemer (Kensington, Md.), and Georgetown University's Dahlgren Chapel. The ensemble assisted in developing "An Evening at the Tabard Inn," an event for the Smithsonian Institution's Resident Associates program in which the Cheese Lords provided music contemporary to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and related to the theme of pilgrimage. The Lords' other performance venues have included Washington National Cathedral, the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, the National Gallery of Art, Epiphany Catholic Church (Georgetown), The Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes, Christ Church (La Plata, Md.), the Cathedral of St. Thomas More (Arlington, Va.), the Old Presbyterian Meeting House (Alexandria, Va.), Christendom College (Front Royal, Va.), and XM Satellite Radio's Live Performance Studio. Their concerts are regularly broadcast on the Vox channel of XM Satellite Radio.

Discography

Missa L'homme arme - Sacred Music of Ludwig Senfl

Te Deum Miserere mei Deusl Virgo prudentissima / Fortuna desperata Quid vitam sine te L'homme arme Missa "L'homme arme" Kyrie Gloria Credo Sanctus Agnus Dei

Missa L'homme Arme: Sacred Music of Ludwig Senfl is the Cheese Lords' second CD, and a world premeire recording of the music of Ludwig Senfl (1486-1543). Senfl was born in Basel, Switzerland around 1486. At an early age he joined the court chapel of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilain I, as a choirboy. In Maximilian's chapel, Senfl met and studied with the court composer Henrich Isaac, and after a brief time away from the chapel, returned as an adult singer and Isaac's principle assistant. After Maximilan's death in 1519, his chapel was disbanded and Senfl's history is less clear. Eventually, he joined the chapel of Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria, where he remained until his death in 1542 or 1543. Senfl was a prolific composer with an output of over 100 mass settings, 50 vespers settings, and over 100 sacred motets. The vast majority of Senfl's music is unrecorded. The Cheese Lords are proud to present this selection of Senfl's sacred work, featuring a mass based on the popular French tune L'homme arme..

8658 CD $15.95

Maestro di Capella - Music of Elzear Genet (Carpentras)

Gabriel angelus Tibi Christe Virgo prudentissima Jubilate Deo Crucem tuam adoramus Magnificat Haec est illa dulcis rosa Missa "Se mieulx ne vient" Kyrie Gloria Credot Sanctus Agnes Dei t Pange lingua

Elzéar Genet (c. 1470-1548) sang in the papal chapel under Pope Julius II, and thereafter in the court of the French king Louis XII. On November 5, 1513, he became the first composer to be named Master of the Papal Chapel. Working for Pope Leo X, who, in the Medici tradition, was a lavish patron of the arts, Genet's musical output became exclusively sacred. Although Genet was the first composer to publish his collected works, his music has unjustly fallen into near-oblivion. By the late 16th century, Genet's works had been replaced with newer settings by Palestrina and other composers. Sadly, there are no documented performances of his music again until the early 19th century.

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