Choralis Constantinus 1508

Program: #23-27   Air Date: Jul 03, 2023

NOTE: All of the music on this program comes from the recording on the Carus label with the Ensemble Cantissimo directed by Markus Utz. It is  CD # 83.524. 

The Choralis Constantinus is one of the most important motet collections of the Renaissance period. Heinrich Isaac wrote it during 1508 to a commission from the chapter of Constance Cathedral. A large number of the total of 375 motets are now largely unknown. ensemble cantissimo has worked intensively on the collection for several years. Under conductor Markus Utz, the singers present a selection of festive motets on this album – an impressive testament to the first musical golden age of the Renaissance. A magnificent rediscovery!

Founded in 1994, ensemble cantissimo is one of the most sought-after vocal ensembles in the German-speaking world. The name says it all: “cantissimo” signifies the focus on vocal music with an emphasis on a cappella singing; at the same time, the ensemble’s main interest has always been “unheard” music outside the usual repertoire. With their characteristic interpretations and exciting choice of programs, the singers from all over Switzerland and Germany, under the direction of the ensemble founder Markus Utz, has delighted critics and audiences alike. The ensemble cantissimo initially established itself with performances at the Heiligkreuzer Konzerte Kempten. These were followed by performances throughout Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Israel. In 2018, ensemble cantissimo was invited by Yale University as the only European choir to participate in the Yale International Choral Festival 2018 and debuted with great success in concerts in New York and Boston. Regular invitations to renowned concert festivals as well as a close cooperation with broadcasting companies testify to the high esteem in which the ensemble’s vocal art is held.

The by now considerable discography of ensemble cantissimo includes some world premiere recordings and rediscoveries highly praised by the specialist press, for example, the CD recordings dealing with sacred works of the Mozart teacher Giovanni Battista Martini or the Marian cycle “Mater Dei” by the Freiburg composer Franz Philipp, a coproduction with SWR published by Spektral. 2010 saw the release of the coproduc tion with BR “I Himmelen” containing Scandinavian choral music, in 2015 “War Dreams – Songs on War and Peace” with the Raschér Saxophone Quartet and in 2016 sacred works by the Swiss philosopher, politician and composer Adolf Brunner. In 2011–2013 the Carus-Verlag engaged the ensemble for the premiere recordings of the choral works of Brahms contemporary Heinrich von Herzogenberg, which can be heard on three CDs.

From Ear Relevant: The early Renaissance musician Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1445/50-1517) may well be the most important composer whose name is still relatively little known to many 21st-century music lovers. This remarkable new recording, Choralis Constantinus, should go a long way toward bringing the Netherlands-born Isaac’s music to more listeners. The 18 tracks here, superbly sung by ensemble cantissimo with period instruments of the Concerto Dell’Ombra, make a strong case for the beauty and merit of Isaac’s oeuvre. Varying in length from about a minute to seven and a half minutes, the works recorded here (both chant and polyphony) for voice and instruments are worthy representatives of the Choralis Constantinus, a collection of 375 motets in three volumes representing all Sundays and feast days of the liturgical year. This massive work, commissioned by the chapter of Constance Cathedral, was composed in 1508.

Isaac was a legendary figure in his era: in 1485, Lorenzo di Medici invited him to Florence, where Isaac joined such famous creative Florentines as da Vinci, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. Later, Isaac was appointed court composer by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian; the Cathedral of Constance commissioned an extensive group of motets celebrating the feasts of the liturgical year. In the ensuing decades, however, the Reformation led to many changes in the liturgical milieu to which Isaac had made such remarkable contributions.

The performances recorded here represent only a fraction of the vast “Choralis Constantinus,” with selections representing four subject areas: “Weihnachten” (Christmas), “Maria” (the Virgin Mary), “Ostern/Himmelfart/Pfingsten” (Easter, Ascension, Pentecost), and “Konradifest” (Feast of St. Conrad). The majority (13) of the 18 tracks are world premiere recordings.

And they are splendid.

Director Markus Utz draws beautiful, nimble, clear singing from the dozen men and women of his ensemble cantissimo (three singers in each category: sopranos, altos, tenors, basses). The singers, drawn from Switzerland and Germany, are agile, accurate, and lovely to hear; not for them the often-bloodless sounds of “correct” period ensembles, but clear and beautifully characterized vocal lines that make the music arresting and individualized. Utz, a conductor/organist based at Zurich University of the Arts and a regular visiting faculty member at Yale University, founded the ensemble cantissimo in 1994 and is in regular demand as teacher/conductor from Hong Kong to Israel.

The singers are featured with four instrumentalists of the Concerto Dell’Ombra: a tenor and a bass trombone, and a soprano and a tenor recorder. The instruments provide enhancement and richer timbres to the vocal lines in some particularly beautiful ways. On Track 10 (“Resurrexi Domini”), for example, the brass instruments overlay the statements from men’s voices for an effect of high seriousness; the clarity of the women’s lines in rising melodic statements is remarkable. The singers are underscored but never overwhelmed by the winds’ accompaniment. We hear not just a wash of choral sound but an ensemble in which voices are recognizable and differently inflected, with occasional subtle use of vibrato. The effect is one of high seriousness but also of stirring beauty.

Track 8 (“Ave Maria”) opens with two male voices interweaving in and out in an inventive preamble; gradually, more voices and instruments are added as the piece grows in complexity. Lines are shaped and inflected, sung lyrically or declaimed; otherworldly lines without vibrato morph into other forms, and then in comes the cornetto. Layer upon layer is added, and the full ensemble finally draws to an apparent close – but no, male voices arise again, and the rest of the group enters for a finale.

The vocal and instrumental textures throughout the recording are consistently intriguing, and the singing is cleanly beautiful. The men’s and women’s voices rise in what is not just an anonymous wash of choral sound; the voices are recognizable and differently inflected, and some vibrato is employed as an occasional expressive device. And yet the overall feeling of unanimity is preserved.

For those who love Renaissance vocal and instrumental music, this introduction to the Choralis Constantinus will be a most welcome discovery.

Composer Info

Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1445/50-1517)

CD Info

Carus label CD # 83.524.