From the Lamentations of Jeremiah to the St John Passion, Vox Cantoris explores nearly two centuries of sacred music in New Spain on this new album. Under the direction of Jean-Christophe Candau, the ensemble traces a repertoire in which the Iberian polyphonic tradition is both preserved and transformed, from Hernando Franco to Manuel de Sumaya. 
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With Holy Week in Mexico City (Semaine sainte à Mexico), released by Psalmus, Vox Cantoris brings together eight works associated with the liturgies of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The programme places five composers linked to the sacred repertoire of New Spain in dialogue: Hernando Franco, Juan de Lienas, Antonio Rodríguez de Mata, Luis Coronado and Manuel de Sumaya. Lamentations, responsories and a St John Passion thus form a liturgical journey spanning the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Hernando Franco, appointed chapel master of Mexico City Cathedral in 1575, belonged to the first generation of musicians trained in Spain to work in New Spain. At the other end of the period, Manuel de Sumaya, appointed chapel master of the same cathedral in 1715, represents a musical world that had already changed profoundly. Between them, works by Juan de Lienas, Antonio Rodríguez de Mata and Luis Coronado bear witness to the richness of a heritage whose scores have sometimes survived better than the biographies of their composers.
Founded in 2000 by Jean-Christophe Candau, Vox Cantoris specialises in rediscovering early liturgical repertoires, drawing on historical sources, treatises and vocal practices. Holy Week in Mexico City continues this approach by shedding light on a still little-known part of Latin American sacred repertoire. The project is also among the nominees for the 2026 REMA Awards, in the Best Extra-European Project category.
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