This album, In excelcis Deo, with two religious works written at the time of the Spanish war of succession, presents the Missa Scala Arentina to four choirs by the Catalan composer Francesc Valls (1671-1747) and the Mass for Two Choirs and Two Orchestras by the French composer Henry Desmarest (1661-1741), each held up as a mirror to the other. These exceptional masterpieces are tightly connected in time, one dating from 1701 and the other from 1704. The Spanish war of succession raged from 1701 to 1714 and was the last of the major wars fought by Louis XIV of France: this terrible European conflict revolved around the succession to the Spanish throne following the death of the last Spanish Hapsburg, Charles II (he was epileptic, he contracted syphilis from his mother at birth- yes, that's a thing - and he was also infertile) and, through it all, political and commercial dominance in Europe. Finally, Spain lost more or less all of its European possessions - in Italy, the Netherlands, Sardinia, and even in Spain itself, with Gibraltar falling into British hands. The Bourbons would be installed on the Spanish throne (where they still sit today), while Barcelona was "recaptured", Catalonia having taken the side of Austria and the Austrian Hapsburgs... A can of worms was opened which is still squirming today! This album, musically very ecumenical thanks to the talent of Jordi Savall, juxtaposes the works of musicians who came from countries on opposite sides of the war, whose masses were held one in Barcelona, and the other in Versailles. It is up to the listener to form their own opinion as to whether the music of the very Catholic French and the very Catholic Catalans is so different after all! © SM/Qobuz