October 2005

Schola Romana of Lucerne

NOTE: The last time we caught up with Fr. Roman Bannwart, it was in the beautiful Monastery of Einsedeln. Now, he has brought 10th century chant from that monastery to Lucerne to explore the resonance between that repertory and modern jazz.

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CD Info: MGB CD 6214

The Transfiguration of the Lord

All of the music on this program is from the recording made by the Choir of the Monks of Chevetogne directed by Fr. Maxime Giminez. You may reach the Abbey at their web site: www.monasterechevetogne.com The program is sponsored in part by the Belgian Tourist Office and the Embassy of Belgium in Washington, D.C. For more information on visiting Belgium (including the Abbey), you may contact the Belgian Tourist Office at: www.visitbelgium.com

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Croatia’s Mystic Sounds

NOTE: One of our most popular series ever is when we featured Croatian music from the Holland Early Music festival in Utrecht. Producer Nenad Bach has recorded two programs of folk and other haunting music from the tradition called "klapa" which are now generally available on disc, and we'll sample them this week.

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CD Info: CD NBM 119, CD NBM 118

Le Champion des Dames

NOTE: Martin le Franc's Le Champion des Dames, presented to Duke Philippe of Burgundy in 1442, was the apotheosis of a vast debate in the late middle ages over the role and nature of women. Marcelo Ohara, director of the ensemble Continens Paradisi writes: "(Le Franc) organized his work as a great contradictory trial with prosecution and defence, and, of course, a final verdict in favour of the female sex; it is an enthusiastic rhetorical tour de force in which all his knowledge of the bar is deployed in the service of poetry."

Composer: Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474) , Gilles Binchois (c. 1400-1460)

CD Info: CD RIC 228

All The Five Salutations: More Music of Ludwig Senfl

NOTE: This greatest of Swiss composers has been an ongoing area of rediscovery in the last decades; this week, the Swiss Radio Choir gives us more sacred gems, including the grand motets and the para-liturgical "Five Salutations of Christ" commissioned by Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria. The Coro della Radio Svizzera is directed by Diego Fasolis in this recording, which is titled Ludwig Senfl: Missa Paschalis und Motteten. It is on the Musikszene Schweiz label, and is CD # MGB 6165.

Composer: LUDWIG SENFL (1486-1543), JOSQUIN DES PREZ

CD Info: CD # MGB 6165