Tag: Renaissance

The Choir of St Luke in the Fields, David Shuler conductor
65:44
MSR Classics MS 1632

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]n entire decade ago The Brabant Ensemble released a fine recording of a mass and motets by the French composer Pierre de Manchicourt (c. 1510-64), since when there has been little more than a trickle of his music on disc. This is a shame, because he was highly regarded in his own day, and the music is of the highest quality amidst that generation of composers between Josquin and Palestrina which is coming to be recognised as conceding little in quality to those two better known bookends, besides influencing the likes of Tallis and even Byrd. Now appears another disc of another mass by Manchicourt, plus five motets, sung by a choir based at a church in Greenwich Village, New York – not their first CD, but their first focusing on this repertory. Carrying on the good work of their Brabantine predecessors, it is stunning.

For a start, the programming is sensible and illuminating, underscored by some outstanding sleevenotes. The choir begin with the motet by Manchicourt himself on which he based his mass. The motet Reges terrae  has already been recorded by some of the usual suspects – Huelgas Ensemble, The Sixteen, Nordic Voices – but surprisingly this is the premiere recording of the mass, and it is every bit as magnificent as the motet on which it is based. There are examples of relatively dull models inspiring fine masses, and masses failing to do justice to the models on which they are based, but both these works are outstanding. The four motets that follow – Caro mea, Ne reminiscaris, Vidi speciosum  and Regina caeli  – all maintain that excellence as music. It is invidious to select one for particular attention, but Caro mea encapsulates that which is best in Franco-Flemish polyphony, within an intense five minutes.

The mixed professional choir sings two to a part. The acoustic is generous. David Shuler adjusts his tempi sensitively in relation to the number of voices in play and whether the music at a given point is polyphonic or homophonic, complicated or straightforward. The individual singers give their lines clarity but blend well. And finally, conductor and choristers perform with conviction, letting Manchicourt’s heavenly music sing for itself.

The British distributor for the disc is Classic Music Distribution, and the record can easily be obtained via Amazon – my copy arrived within a few days. This CD is one of many recent examples of American ensembles recording neglected European Renaissance repertory. My recent article “Two Invisible Songs by Byrd” in the current number of Musical Times  features two songs uniquely recorded by the Annapolis Brass Quintet in arrangements totally true to the originals. Similarly, the American Horn Quartet is responsible for the unique recording of A feigned friend  from Byrd’s under-recorded Psalmes, songs and sonnets  of 1611. Blue Heron have made a splash [sic] with their five discs devoted to Englishman Nick Sandon’s reconstructions from the Peterhouse partbooks. And I hope shortly to review a CD featuring a Peterhouse mass not selected by Blue Heron but recorded by yet another American choir, as their first ever commercial recording. Meanwhile buy this disc with confidence – not least because these fine performers deserve support for recording this glorious repertory.

Richard Turbet

Amici Voices, Terence Charlston
59:51
Amici Sounds ASO 1415

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his CD is the musical equivalent of the growing fashion for self-publishing in the book world – a minimally packaged account of what looks like a concert programme, committed to CD primarily for sale at concerts and enabled by financial support, in this case from Agincourt 600. What it contains are pleasantly stylish performances of mainly mainstream sacred and secular choral music from the 15th century as well as contemporary music for keyboard performed on a reconstruction of the earliest surviving harpsichord in the world (c. 1480). The by necessity terse programme notes make at least one rather sweeping claim for the programme, that it ‘forms an unusual and unique response in words and music to this pivotal and controversial historical event’ when, in fact, most of the repertoire has absolutely nothing to do with Agincourt. This sounds more like a statement which survived from a grant application than anything of relevance to the actual CD. Having said that, the performances of the albeit very familiar choral music are all engaging and accomplished, and the music for keyboard performed on the reconstructed upright harpsichord is intriguing. I’m not sure that it adds anything to our understanding of the music of this period, but it would serve as an authentic and inexpensive general introduction to those coming afresh to the music of the time of Agincourt.

D. James Ross

The disc is available directly from the group’s website.

Graindelavoix, Björn Schmelzer
76:06
Glossa GCD P32112

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] recently struggled to enjoy these performers’ account of Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame, but I thought they might be back on more fruitful territory here with a speculative liturgical reconstruction of Cypriot Vespers of the 15th century featuring the music of Jean Hanelle, the Flemish composer now credited with the entire contents of Turin manuscript J:II:9. Framed as a service in Cyprus where Hanelle spent most of his creative life, the CD juxtaposes traditional Maronite and Greek- and Arabo-Byzantine chant with Hanelle’s polyphony. I tried to just let this mélange wash over me, but I found musicological alarms going off left, right and centre. Why do some of Hanelle’s motets (such as 9. O Clavis David) deserve relatively straight if quirky polyphonic performance while others (such as 8. O Radix Jesse) are subjected to an amorphous, floaty rendition which all but destroys all concept of the rhythms and overall structure? Even assuming that 15th-century incomers to Cyprus applied the same performance conventions to their music as present-day ‘traditional’ singers do (and when you think about it that is quite a conceptual leap), why is there such variation of approach within the way Graindelavoix present this repertoire? And remember the bad old days when the ‘living’ Solemnes school of plainchant singing dictated the way everybody sang historic chant? This is a CD which is enjoyable in parts, ironically in my opinion at the two extremes of pretty conventional polyphonic singing and ‘traditionally’ presented eastern chants, where the Byzantine chanter Adrian Sirbu has clearly provided useful advice, but I found the cross-over attempts unconvincing and poorly justified in the notes (another of these pesky mock interviews!). It is impressive to find Björn Schmelzer continuing to plough his distinctive furrow, questioning many of our fundamental assumptions about the performance of early choral repertoire, and his CDs continue to provide food for thought as well as continuing to attract the attention of a loyal following. And perhaps my growing disconnect with them is more a sign of my advancing age and hardening attitudes than his increasing self-indulgence. But I hope not.

D. James Ross