Dominique Visse and his group Ensemble Clément Janequin have been involved in many outstanding projects over the years, but this 2002 Harmonia Mundi recording has to be one of the most spectacular; the Missa "Et ecce terrae motus" (aka, "The Earthquake Mass") of Antoine Brumel. Brumel is one of many mid-renaissance composers whose reputations are so far overshadowed by Josquin Desprez that – like Rodney Dangerfield – they "just don't get no respect." In Brumel's own time, however, he was considered one of Josquin's equals and his death in 1512 was widely observed in a number of "déplorations." Although the mass itself survives in only a single manuscript copy, it bears the signatures of singers who revived the work in Munich in 1570 – probably close to a century after it was first given – and among them is a bass named Orlandus Lassus.

This recording is simply stupendous in terms of the music it presents, the performance, and the recording quality. Brumel was born only 20 years after Josquin but there is a world of difference between their respective compositional styles. Josquin's music cements the accomplishments of his predecesors and shows the way forward. Brumel's music pushes rapidly forward along–and in some senses, away from–that path. The "Missa ecce terra motus", featured on this recording, anticipates such great mid-16th century masterpieces as Tallis's "Spem in alium". The Huelgas Ensemble is in top form here and van Nevel's direction and interpretation are superb.

The Codice di Staffarda is a musical codex from Staffarda Abbey (Santa Maria di Staffarda), a Cistercian monastery located near Saluzzo in north-west Italy. The codex includes works by composers including the otherwise unknown Engarandus Juvenis and Antoine Brumel.
This recording received a 1998 "Critic's Choice" award from Gramophone magazine.