Purchases Today

[JBS]

From Berkshire Record Outlet:
Not deliberately, but the theme seemed to be 'string concertos'.



And one from a few weeks ago, a Valentine's gift from my girlfriend:

I can't comment on most of them, but I think the Nielsen CD is the best installment of Gilbert's cycle, and the only one from that cycle I would push people to buy.

The French trio CD is a nice one.

[T. D.]

This is a risk, but I have one weird Obrecht secular music CD by this ensemble (Camerata Trajectina) and am interested in the accompanying DVD.



Can't find much in the way of reviews and have never heard anything on the label, but the Clerks' Group should be more than respectable in this repertory.

[classicalgeek]

I can't comment on most of them, but I think the Nielsen CD is the best installment of Gilbert's cycle, and the only one from that cycle I would push people to buy.

The French trio CD is a nice one.

I have the Gilbert Nielsen Symphony cycle, and I was pleased to see BRO had the Concerti... I've been looking for that for a while. Glad to hear to that about 'Avant l'Orage' - there's some really unusual repertoire on there!

It appears that the Martinu/Hindemith/Honegger Cello Concerto disc is out of stock, so I'll only be getting seven discs.

[Que]

From Berkshire Record Outlet:
Not deliberately, but the theme seemed to be 'string concertos'.

Nice!

[prémont]

Can't find much in the way of reviews and have never heard anything on the label, but the Clerks' Group should be more than respectable in this repertory.

In my opinion a most enjoyable CD.

[Mandryka]

Can't find much in the way of reviews and have never heard anything on the label, but the Clerks' Group should be more than respectable in this repertory.

Some comments of mine over the years

In Motet 11 the lover is feeling very bad because his beloved won't even let him look at her again.

In the triplum he says that although his death is foreseeable, it would be sweet if he could only get another eyefull, in the motetus he's resigned to dying without so much as getting a peep.

The tenor is in French for the first time in the cycle, and simply says "sweet noble heart." It's from a popular song.

The interesting thing about the motet is the juxtaposition of death and sweetness, but apparently this was a familiar trope to the readers of popular medieval mystical literature. The idea which was current at the time was that the suffering of Christ in the passion was counterbalanced by the sweetness of his existence after the crucifixion. And similarly, for anyone wanting to achieve mystical union, there will be great suffering in the process, which will be counterbalanced by great sweetness when the quest comes to its fruition. No pain no gain, as it were.

As far as recordings go, I've found Gothic Voices twice, HE, EMN, Orlando (Dart of Love), Clerks Group and Studio der frühen Musik.

 

Let's deal with Gothic Voices first. The recording in The Mirror of Narcissus was made in April 1983. The performance is languid and harmonically rich. The performance in The Study of Love was made almost a decade later in October 1992, and is much faster.  They are both fabulous IMO, I especially like the earlier one because of my penchant for slower tempos.

The booklet essays by Christopher Page don't discuss this motet, but he does say something interesting and revealing about another Machaut song Trop plus / Biauté parée / Je ne suis. in his essay for The study of Love:

HE are even slower than the one in Mirror of Narcissus, but, to parody Page, I think the motet welcomes a very unsprightly performance, even if it's at the expense of excitement.

EMN provide us with a lovely instrumental rendition of the music in the motetus before offering a speedy performance of the three part motet -- speedy but I smell no glibness -- I don't know about excitement.

Studio der frühen Musik are blessed with the voice of Andrea von Ramm, at least, I see it as a blessing, and if you share this view you won't want to miss out on this characterful and heartfelt performance. Instruments for the tenor.

Orlandos singing is controlled and quite expressive. For me it lacks some of the magic of the others -- this could be me or it could be a familiar failing of complete editions starting to rear its ugly head. They are producing an awful lot of recordings at the moment. Anyway, there are dangers of overthinking the listening when you do comparative listening like I'm doing -- the Orlando taken alone in a more normal context would probably be full of magic even for me!

Clerks Group are also very fine -- basically they're all well worth knowing -- I can't rank these things! No! It's a great piece of music which has brought out the best of most of the performers -- I was quite surprised to be unable to find any amateur ones on youtube though.

19, Diligenter inquiramus / Martyrum gemma latria / A Christo honoratus is also a three voice motet entirely in Latin. And like 18, it is the celebration of a person, in this case St Quintin, whose cult was particularly active in Reims, and responsible for the completion of some significant architectural projects.

In addition to HE and EMN I've found recorded three other recorded performances - Cantica Symphonia, Clerks Group and Liber Unusualis



What seems to me really interesting at the moment is the contrast between EMN and Cantica Symphonia. As with M18, EMN's interpretation is bracing and functions as a study in rhythms shifting from one voice to another. Their vigour is totally winning, and it seems to befit a motet which talks, in one of the poems, about St Quintin's prowess.

Cantica Symphonia replace the tenor (A christo honoratus) with a viol type instrument. The result is greater clarity of the poems which carry the burden of meaning. They sing in a more sensual and fluid way that EMN, I would say with an emphasis more on feeling than rhythm.  Their expressive singing is counterbalanced by an extraordinary impression of control and poise. Using a sustaining instrument for the tenor in this motet, a practice which reminds me of using organ instead of sung tenor in polyphonic chant, brings clarity and contrast to the music. I like what they do very much.

The CD contains several motets by Machaut sung by the Clerks' Group. They sing with a preference for slow temps, which lets you really enjoy Machaut's beautiful harmonies. Their colours are pastel. The combination of sweet and subtle shades and languorous tempos makes something very sensual out of Machaut's music. I'm tempted to use the word oneiric, but I won't. I like it a lot.

The CD also contains some anonymous mass movements, which are treated totally different from Machaut's motets - much more dynamically and extrovertly. I like them rather less.

[T. D.]

Thanks. Useful information.
I'm not a sufficiently big collector to amass multiple recordings of works, so I try to balance exploring new performers vs. sticking with ensembles I trust.

On that subject, I've gone on a mini-binge and finally purchased something that had been on the want list for years:

[Que]

This arrived a few days ago:



While volume 2 hasn't even been issued yet, this 1st volume is already running OOP...

And this I picked up 2nd hand:



Comment on Amazon: "I'm dissapointed, the sonatas are missing..."

Noooo sh%t, Sherlock!    That's exactly why, with three complete sonatas sets on the shelves, I "needed" this set...

[Harry]

This arrived a few days ago:



While volume 2 hasn't even been issued yet, this 1st volume is already running OOP...

Any thoughts about the Blue Heron? Do you think I would like it?

[Que]

Any thoughts about the Blue Heron? Do you think I would like it?

For the Ockeghem songs the choice is basically between Blue Heron and Cut Circle with Jesse Rodin. Both are very good, and I think it would be up to personal preference. Comparing the two, I opted for Blue Heron.
Try both! 

[Harry]

For the Ockeghem songs the choice is basically between Blue Heron and Cut Circle with Jesse Rodin. Both are very good, and I think it would be up to personal preference. Comparing the two, I opted for Blue Heron.
Try both! 

I bookmarked them both, thank you!

[JBS]

Thanks. Useful information.
I'm not a sufficiently big collector to amass multiple recordings of works, so I try to balance exploring new performers vs. sticking with ensembles I trust.

On that subject, I've gone on a mini-binge and finally purchased something that had been on the want list for years:

In due time, you will probably want their other set

[JBS]

...

And this I picked up 2nd hand:



Comment on Amazon: "I'm dissapointed, the sonatas are missing..."

Noooo sh%t, Sherlock!    That's exactly why, with three complete sonatas sets on the shelves, I "needed" this set...

Let me rephrase that comment:
I'm disappointed van Oort didn't also record the sonatas.

It's certainly a good set even if it's sonataless.

[T. D.]

In due time, you will probably want their other set

Thanks. I no doubt will. I own only 2 of the constituent discs (de Wert and Gesualdo book 4) as singletons.

[Que]

Let me rephrase that comment:
I'm disappointed van Oort didn't also record the sonatas.

It's certainly a good set even if it's sonataless.

Well, I still have to get into this set but I wholeheartedly agree Van Oort shouldn't be underestimated - his Mozart set is my top recommendation. I guess he - or Brilliant - considered the complete Haydn sonatas field to be too crowded...?

[Maestro267]

Isn't it false advertising. The sonatas are Klavierstücke, therefore the set is not the complete Klavierstücke.

[JBS]

Isn't it false advertising. The sonatas are Klavierstücke, therefore the set is not the complete Klavierstücke.

I think the modern usage makes it a miscellaneous category for all the stuff that are not sonatas or cycles of etudes/preludes/etc

[JBS]

So "four friends having a conversation" becomes "four friends having an argument"?
 

Meantime I just ordered this from Amazon MP seller Oxfordshire England

Four days after I posted this, the vendor (Oxfordshire England is the name they use on Amazon MP) notified me that they had shipped it but did not give any tracking info. Today out of the blue Amazon informed me my credit card was being refunded because the vendor was "out of stock". Apparently the vendor charged me before having a copy to ship! I had a similar experience with them a couple of years ago that suggests to me this is SOP with them (although that time I did receive the item, but well after the claimed shipping date).

So I've now re-ordered it via Arkivmusic for a lower price, although sales tax and shipping make it only a few dollars less than the original order.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Four days after I posted this, the vendor (Oxfordshire England is the name they use on Amazon MP) notified me that they had shipped it but did not give any tracking info. Today out of the blue Amazon informed me my credit card was being refunded because the vendor was "out of stock". Apparently the vendor charged me before having a copy to ship! I had a similar experience with them a couple of years ago that suggests to me this is SOP with them (although that time I did receive the item, but well after the claimed shipping date).

So I've now re-ordered it via Arkivmusic for a lower price, although sales tax and shipping make it only a few dollars less than the original order.

Well, I'm glad that you were able to get a hold of a copy in the end. 

PD

[Mookalafalas]

this really wasn't on my radar, but stumbled on a used copy for crazy low price and couldn't resist