‘For fire burning in snow is the effect of love’. The final line of Juan de Araujo’s Dime, amor gives this recording its title and conjures up the passion and dramatic contrasts which make this disc such a delight. Araujo has been described by many commentators as the greatest Latin American composer of the age, although much of his music is still rarely performed. Little is known about the man (he was a disruptive student in Lima and involved in litigation in La Plata), and there is almost certainly more material to uncover. He was born in Spain in 1648 and emigrated at a young age to South America with his parents. After a period as organist at Lima Cathedral he lived in Panama and Cuzco, where a few of his manuscripts are found, and from 1680 he spent the last thirty-two years of his life as organist at the cathedral of La Plata, now known as the Bolivian judicial capital of Sucre. This disc includes one of his largest pieces, the triple-choir setting in eleven parts of the first great Vesper Psalm Dixit Dominus. This substantial setting is through-composed and vividly captures the dramatic elements in the text with a dazzling display of polychoral techniques. Silencio is a ravishing, double-choir lullaby which makes a complete contrast with the dramatic exchanges in the triple-choir !A, del tiempo! and !A, de la región de luces!. The fiery !Fuego de amor! is written for four choirs. The extraordinary imagination of Araujo in his choice of texts, his sensitivity to word-setting, his melodic, harmonic and textural inventiveness are remarkable, if not breathtaking. Ex Cathedra’s uplifting recordings of Latin American Baroque polyphony are always eagerly awaited, and here they present more great music, hitherto hidden in obscurity but alive with melodic beauty and joy. Performances are infectiously energetic and dazzlingly stylish.

BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE DISC OF THE MONTH; CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE OPERA & VOCAL DISC OF THE MONTH

'Skidmore and his choir … have included the largest of Araujo's liturgical pieces, an imposing Dixit Dominus in eight parts. The colourful, carefully paced sequence is interspersed with sections of an anonymous setting of the Quechua text Hanacpachap Cussicuinin, a Marian hymn that is regarded as the oldest printed piece of polyphony from the Americas. With beautifully varied instrumental support, Ex Cathedra turn it into a hauntingly beautiful processional' (The Guardian)

'Followers of Jeffrey Skidmore's earlier excursions into the Latin American Baroque with his Ex-Cathedra group should need no prompting to buy volume three … Nothing stifles the infectious spark of these mostly secular effusions by the 17th-century Juan de Araujo, cathedral organist in Bolivia. Uplifting, and foot-tapping' (The Times)

'The performances throughout can hardly be faulted. A lovely and varied sonority is created by soloists emerging and returning from the 14-strong choir. The instrumental contribution is equally distinguished, from sensitive continuo of sustained organ and more rhythmically engaging plucked strings, to a positive kaleidoscope of wind and brass in the larger numbers' (BBC Music Magazine)

'… Captures the essence of music informed by the assured grandeur of 16th-century Spanish music, tinged with the colour of native 'Indian' culture and often marked by vibrant echoes of the regions' African slave communities … An unmissable release' (Classic FM Magazine)

'A hugely appealing, atmospheric disc … The reason we should bother with such an obscure composer is clear from the first note - the vivid contrasts and thrilling rhetoric found in Gabrieli and Monteverdi are developed and combined with a magical, dramatic, dark-hued Iberian sensibility' (Sunday Times)

'Araujo is rightly considered to be perhaps the finest composer of his age working in Latin America … This is a captivating, colourful recording which may breathe the stiller London air but audibly relishes the genius of the too-long-neglected Juan de Araujo' (International Record Review)

'Araujo's fusion of European-style vocal techniques with foot-tapping Latino rhythms is a revelation. Bouquets to Hyperion for opening our ears to these riches, and to the Birmingham-based Ex Cathedra vocal and instrumental ensemble, under scholar-director Jeffrey Skidmore, for such engaging performances' (Financial Times)

'It's superbly performed … The most impressive element is the precision, blend and sonority of his singers in a splendid setting of Dixit Dominus. The evocation of a bullfight in Salga el torillo hosquillo (in which the Matador is compared to the Virgin Mary) is thrilling in its energy and drama, and the contemplative serenity of Silencio is breathakingly beautiful … This is a terrific disc' (Gramophone)

'Jeffrey Skidmore not only has this repertoire thoroughly under his skin, but equally the ability to inspire his splendid forces to communicate his enthusiasm for it with colourful immediacy' (Goldberg)

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Recording details: June 2007; St Paul's Church, New Southgate, London, United Kingdom; Produced by Mark Brown; Engineered by Julian Millard; Release date: February 2008;