April 2007

Dufay to Josquin–The Transition from Late Medieval to the Renaissance

Early and mature works of Guillaume Dufay, and works that were attributed to Josquin now known to be by various contemporaries, lead us through the rich half-century from 1440 to 1490--from the last hints of medievalism to full-bore mature Renaissance polyphony; we'll conclude with Josquin pure & true.

Composer: Guillaume de Machaut, (c. 1300-1377), Johannes Ciconia, Solage (fl. 1380s), Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474), Antoine Busnois (c. 1430-1492), NICOLAES CRAEN (d. 1507), ADRIAN WILLAERT (c.1490-1562), JACQUES or NICHOLAS CHAMPION, NOEL BAULDEWEYN,

CD Info: CD # 1823, CD # ZZT 021002, CD #AV 2089, CD #ZZT 050301, #HMU 907333, #CDA 67183,

Ars Subtilior and Solage–The Transition from Late Medieval to the Renaissance

The time after Machaut's death was marked by unusual complexities of rhythm, notation, and text called Ars Subtilior--a new disc by the Gothic Voices focuses on the shadowy figure of "Solage," active in French court circles in the 1380s. Not only are some of the pieces recorded of the first time, this disc adds ten works never before attributed to the oeuvre of Solage on stylistic grounds.

Composer: Guillaume de Machaut, (c. 1300-1377), Johannes Ciconia, Solage (fl. 1380s), Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474), Antoine Busnois (c. 1430-1492), NICOLAES CRAEN (d. 1507), ADRIAN WILLAERT (c.1490-1562), JACQUES or NICHOLAS CHAMPION, NOEL BAULDEWEYN,

CD Info: CD # 1823, CD # ZZT 021002, CD #AV 2089, CD #ZZT 050301, #HMU 907333, #CDA 67183,

Machaut’s Motets & the Blessed Henry Suso–The Transition from Late Medieval to the Renaissance

Thanks to the work of Anne Walters Robertson, we have an amazing theory--that the motets 1-17 of Machaut form a vast cycle on the aspects of spiritual love as delineated by the popular mystic and Dominican friar, Blessed Henry Suso in his treatise "Wisdom's Watch Upon the Hours"--and with two recent recordings, we can track these astounding works.

Composer: Guillaume de Machaut, (c. 1300-1377), Johannes Ciconia, Solage (fl. 1380s), Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474), Antoine Busnois (c. 1430-1492), NICOLAES CRAEN (d. 1507), ADRIAN WILLAERT (c.1490-1562), JACQUES or NICHOLAS CHAMPION, NOEL BAULDEWEYN,

CD Info: CD # 1823, CD # ZZT 021002, CD #AV 2089, CD #ZZT 050301, #HMU 907333, #CDA 67183,

Feast of St. John the Baptist

Once again, the remarkable Norwegian ensemble that gave us the Mass of the Holy Blood has produced this extraordinary record of a complete feast day—one of the two or three most complete such services ever recorded! (a US premiere).

Composer:

CD Info: Paraclete Press CD SN-18, Accord CD 201532, Accord CD 476 1452, Kulturverksyed CD FXCD 306,

Justus ut palma

Dom Mocquereau in Solesmes chose this one gradual to show how he researched the purest, earliest chants—he reproduced over 200 medieval sources for this chant to show they were essentially the same, proving that the earliest authentic version of the work could be recovered, rejecting the corrupted version that had been used for centuries.

Composer:

CD Info: Paraclete Press CD SN-18, Accord CD 201532, Accord CD 476 1452, Kulturverksyed CD FXCD 306