War and Faith: a coupling that was not only related to Crusaders but to many aspects during the Renaissance and the early Baroque. And both War and Faith had a common denominator in the music. This disc tries to reconstitute the music which escorted warriors before, during and after two of those battles which stained Europe with blood in the 16th century.

In 1968, six former choral scholars from King’s College, Cambridge established the King’s Singers, later described by The Times as “the superlative vocal sextet”. The group has always comprised two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass, and over the years it has proved consistently exceptional for vocal distinction and breadth and diversity of repertoire. This celebratory collection of eight CDs focuses on Renaissance composers from Italy, England, France, Spain, Germany and the Low Countries.

The Renaissance French composer Clément Janequin is rightfully regarded today as a master of the chanson, of which 286 have survived. Had only the program chansons "La Bataille de Marignan" (which imitates the sounds of battle) and "Le Chant des oiseaux" (which imitates the sound of birds) survived today, he would still lay claim to greatness in the genre.