The Early Music Club (EMC)

Started by zamyrabyrd, October 06, 2007, 10:31:49 PM

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San Antone

Quote from: Que on March 18, 2015, 10:13:24 PM
Great! :) 

I would like to add to that shortlist in any case (there are some more): Ensemble Musica Nova (Aeon), Diabolus in Musica (Alpha), Singer Pur (Oehms), Dufay Ensemble (Freiburg) (Ars Musici), Orlando di Lasso Ensemble (Hannover) (Thorofon), Labyrintho (Stradivarius), Ludus Modalis (Ramée), Concerto Vocale Amsterdam (Glossa, CPO)

Q

Thanks for the suggestions.  However, as my listening experience deepens, I am sure to refine my favorites to all-male, OVPP groups.  I've already lost one group from my list, A Sei Voci who ceased activity in 2011, which is unfortunate.  And I still enjoy The Hilliard Ensemble.

;)

San Antone

#681
For anyone wishing to get a taste of Stimmwerk, here's YouTube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/v/IWgUATjdw_w

aligreto

Quote from: sanantonio on March 19, 2015, 06:53:06 AM
For anyone wishing to get a taste of Stimmwerk, here's YouTube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/v/IWgUATjdw_w

Delightful sound with wonderful clarity of lines.

Que

Quote from: sanantonio on March 19, 2015, 02:05:47 AM
Thanks for the suggestions.  However, as my listening experience deepens, I am sure to refine my favorites to all-male, OVPP groups.  I've already lost one group from my list, A Sei Voci who ceased activity in 2011, which is unfortunate.  And I still enjoy The Hilliard Ensemble.

;)

Uuhhmmm, I have to admit that I didn't see that one coming... ???
Is that because you think that is historically correct or just a personal preference?
You would be denying yourself so much wonderful stuff!  :)

BTW a reissue of a Gesualdo recording by Sei Voci (love their recordings of the Desprez masses, despite the participation of women ;)) has just come out:

[asin]B00PFAX6V0[/asin]

Q

Que

This new issue should be fun:

[asin]B00TJFHPYQ[/asin]

QuoteRICERCAR now celebrates its 35th anniversary with a homage to the greatest Flemish composer of the Renaissance. The works of Cipriano de Rore (1515/16 1565) remained extremely popular until well after his death.Several of his madrigals later appeared in dozens of ornamented versions and continued to do so until the beginning of the 17th century; this was an extraordinary success for the time.Ricercar's leading ensembles of singers and instrumentalists have each made their own original contribution to this recording, providing a complete overview of de Rore's sacred and secular works. The madrigal Ancor che col partire binds the entire recording together, firstly through the original setting with its erotically charged text and secondly through many instrumental versions that were soon made from it.

Q

San Antone

Quote from: Que on March 22, 2015, 01:56:35 AM
Uuhhmmm, I have to admit that I didn't see that one coming... ???
Is that because you think that is historically correct or just a personal preference?
You would be denying yourself so much wonderful stuff!  :)

Mostly a personal preference.  Seems the female voices have a tendancy to become too bright and the overall blend is top heavy.  But I am not doctrinaire, and will certainly listen to music made by mixed ensembles as long as the voices are not dominanted by the high voices. 

Quote from: Que on March 22, 2015, 01:56:35 AM
BTW a reissue of a Gesualdo recording by Sei Voci (love their recordings of the Desprez masses, despite the participation of women ;)) has just come out:

[asin]B00PFAX6V0[/asin]

Q

Thanks, will look for it.

San Antone

Quote from: Que on March 22, 2015, 02:01:33 AM
This new issue should be fun:

[asin]B00TJFHPYQ[/asin]

Q

Listening on Spotify. 

Mandryka

Quote from: sanantonio on March 19, 2015, 02:05:47 AM
Thanks for the suggestions.  However, as my listening experience deepens, I am sure to refine my favorites to all-male, OVPP groups.  I've already lost one group from my list, A Sei Voci who ceased activity in 2011, which is unfortunate.  And I still enjoy The Hilliard Ensemble.

;)

Have you explored Ensemble Organum yet?
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

San Antone

Quote from: Mandryka on March 22, 2015, 09:20:22 AM
Have you explored Ensemble Organum yet?

Yes; I like them quite a bit but their choice in repertory is rather limited.  A couple of groups I'm focusing on currently are The Suspicious Cheese Lords (a pun on the phrase Suscipe Quæso Domine), a male ensemble based in Washington, DC.  They are not OVPP but 2VPP is okay as well.   Also the Cappella Pratensis who specializes in the music of Josquin Desprez and other polyphonists from the 15th and 16th centuries.

Mandryka

Quote from: sanantonio on March 22, 2015, 10:01:37 AM
Yes; I like them quite a bit but their choice in repertory is rather limited.  A couple of groups I'm focusing on currently are The Suspicious Cheese Lords (a pun on the phrase Suscipe Quæso Domine), a male ensemble based in Washington, DC.  They are not OVPP but 2VPP is okay as well.   Also the Cappella Pratensis who specializes in the music of Josquin Desprez and other polyphonists from the 15th and 16th centuries.

And of course there is that Orlando Consort Ars subtilior CD which is where I came in a couple of weeks ago. It really does grow on me with repeated listening. I checked out their recording of Le voir dit a few weeks ago, though ended up preferring Oxford Camerata because of what I felt was more sensitivity to the words in the big lay. I could be wrong about that.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Artem

What do you think about recordings with children's choir?

San Antone

Cross posted from the New Releases thread - Mouton: 1515 - Sacred Works



May

San Antone

#692
A discovery for me, Loyset Compère (c. 1445 – 16 August 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. Of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, he was one of the most significant composers of motets and chansons of that era, and one of the first musicians to bring the light Italianate Renaissance style to France.

Wonderful recording from Orlando Consort

[asin]B000024G5Y[/asin]

San Antone

Clemens Deus Artifex : Office Polyphoniq
La Main Harmonique - Frédéric Bétous



La Main Harmonique is a French group specializing in lesser known composers from the late 15th and 16th centuries.  Their first recording featured Ockeghem and Compere.  The personnel appears to be include men and one woman, similar to Singer Pur, and also some members are instrumentalists.  They are also active in performing newly composed music.

Here's some info from their website:

Frédéric Bétous and the musicians and singers of La Main Harmonique were driven together and have been working since then around a common idea: to share and revive the delicate and clever beauty of Renaissance music whilst opening new ways towards it in today's listening habits. In order to reach this ideal, La Main Harmonique stand firmly in present times by regularly commissioning and performing new compositions with period instruments together with pieces from the Early music repertoire – thus earning international acclaim for the quality of their programmes and the excellence of their interpretations (Diapason, Classica etc).

The ensemble's name refers to the « guidonian hand », a medieval mnemonic device to assist singers in learning to sight-sing. This dates back to Brother Guido d'Arezzo, the 11th-century music theorist who designed it: each portion of the hand represents a specific note within the hexachord system. In teaching, an instructor would indicate a series of notes by pointing to them with their right index on their left hand, and the students would sing them. The guidonian hand was still in use during Renaissance times for teaching solmisation (sung solfège).

Frédéric Bétous has been in demand for years as a countertenor and performed with a number of prestigious ensemble such as Les Éléments, Ensemble Jacques Moderne (Joël Suhubiette), Le Concert Spirituel (Hervé Niquet), Solistes XXI (Rachid Saphir), Diabolus in Musica (Anthoine Guerber), Huelgas Ensemble (Paul Van Nevel), etc.

To him La Main Harmonique is the key to his passion for polyphony and the rediscovery of European Renaissance masterpieces. In the summer of 2011 he launched "Musique en chemin", a festival whose venues are spread along the Saint James' Way (Chemin de Compostelle) in the Gers department in the southwest of France.


The recording pictured above is on Spotify and I am listening, and can tell that this is a group i will follow.

Que

#694
Sanantonio, I think you have uncovered (at least for me) some very interesting recordings and groups, many thanks for that! :)
I for one was not aware of the fact that Diabolus in Musica also recorded for another label, Bayard Musique.
And the ensembles La Main Harmonique, Ensemble Cantilena Antiqua, Tenebrae Consort and the Suspicious Cheese Lords are all new to me.

Here are some recently posted items quoted for our convenience:

Quote from: sanantonio on March 22, 2015, 11:00:09 AM
Vivat Rex! Sacred Choral Music of Jean Mouton is the Cheese Lords' third CD and their third world premiere recording. It was produced by Tina Chancey of Hesperus.



Jean Mouton (c. 1459 – October 30, 1522) was a French composer of the Renaissance. He was famous both for his motets, which are among the most refined of the time, and for being the teacher of Adrian Willaert, one of the founders of the Venetian School. Mouton was hugely influential both as a composer and as a teacher. Of his music, 9 Magnificat settings, 15 masses, 20 chansons, and over 100 motets survive; since he was a court composer for a king, the survival rate of his music is relatively high for the period, it being widely distributed, copied, and archived. In addition, the famous publisher Ottaviano Petrucci printed an entire volume of Mouton's masses (early in the history of music printing, most publications contained works by multiple composers).

Quote from: sanantonio on March 22, 2015, 03:05:00 PM


Ensemble Clement Janequin, an excellent French group specializing in music from the Renaissance.  This recording is of motets by Claudin de Sermisy (c. 1490 – 13 October 1562) a French composer of the Renaissance.  Along with Clément Janequin he was one of the most renowned composers of French chansons in the early 16th century; in addition he was a significant composer of sacred music. His music was both influential on, and influenced by, contemporary Italian styles.

Quote from: sanantonio on March 23, 2015, 02:09:55 AM


Diabolus in Musica (founded Paris, 1992) is a French medieval music ensemble directed by Antoine Guerber

This recording was released in October 2014 and contains French music from the 12th century; most are by "anonymous" with one work apiece attributed to Léonin and Pérotin.  The individual pieces celebrate different saints.  If you generally enjoy music from this period (as I do), this is a very good recording by a male group, OVPP, with occasional instrumental accompaniment on medieval harp.

Quote from: sanantonio on March 24, 2015, 07:15:12 AM
Palol: Joys Amors Et Chants



For those who enjoy Medieval music, troubadours and troveres, especially, this is a fascinating recording.

From the notes,
Berenguer de Palol was born in Catalonia, the land of the Count of Rossillon. We know very
little about his life; the only date regarding his life that can be established with certainty is 1164,
the year in which his patron Jaufre III died. Berenguer s artistic activity has reached us through
a series of passionate compositions of rare musical and poetic beauty. His poetry shows an
evident research of the supreme love, or joy; a way paved with suffering for love joined to the
cult of feminine beauty. The main subject is woman, seen partly as an abstract goal in the
search of love, and partly real.


Quote from: sanantonio on March 24, 2015, 02:05:16 AM


San Antone

I am glad there's some things there that you will find interesting, Que.  I very much enjoy the journey when discovering new ensembles or composers from this period.

Que

#696
Quote from: sanantonio on March 24, 2015, 03:15:05 PM
Cross posted from the New Releases thread - Mouton: 1515 - Sacred Works



May

I just browsed trough the Bayard Musique catalogue and there are some nice recordings by Diabolus in Musica to consider: http://www.adf-bayardmusique.com/artiste1871-ensemble-diabolus-in-musica

Q

San Antone

Musique au Palais des Papes - XIVe siècle
Ensemble Venance Fortunat

[asin]B000055ZSC[/asin]

I think all of this music comes from the Ivrea Codex, a parchment manuscript containing a significant body of 14th century French polyphonic music. 

Ensemble Venance Fortunat is a French group new to me, but I am impressed and will try to find more from them.

Moonfish

Balades a III chans de Johan Robert "Trebor", Baude Cordier, Matteo da Perugia, Antonio da Cividale, Magister Grimace, & al.
Ferrara Ensemble/Crawford Young

Just listened to the Ferrara Ensemble from the set below. I picked it up after San Antonio recommended it on this list. Thank you SA! Excellent recording! Full of harmony and allure that makes me want to dig deeper into early music. I am certainly looking forward to the other recordings in this box. Seemingly the originals are OOP so I am pleased that Arcana decided to reissue them.



from
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"Every time you spend money you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want...."
Anna Lappé

San Antone

Quote from: Moonfish on March 28, 2015, 01:26:38 PM
Balades a III chans de Johan Robert "Trebor", Baude Cordier, Matteo da Perugia, Antonio da Cividale, Magister Grimace, & al.
Ferrara Ensemble/Crawford Young

Just listened to the Ferrara Ensemble from the set below. I picked it up after San Antonio recommended it on this list. Thank you SA! Excellent recording! Full of harmony and allure that makes me want to dig deeper into early music. I am certainly looking forward to the other recordings in this box. Seemingly the originals are OOP so I am pleased that Arcana decided to reissue them.



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I am glad you enjoyed it.  That group of recordings is very fine, IMO.