Huelgas Ensemble

Huelgas Ensemble - PERUSIO. Virelais, Ballades, Caccia

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EAC FLAC (250 MB) | NO LOG | Embedded CUE | booklet (45 MB) | OGG·160 (70 MB)
Sony Classical SK 62928 Vivarte (1996) | medieval


Matheus de Perusio (d.c.1418), also known as Matteo da Perugia, was long regarded as one of the premier composers of the late Ars Subtilior song


TRACKLIST
01 - Helas Avril [7:59]
3-part virelai
cantus: R, V, EL
02 - Ave, Sancta Mundi Salus ~ Agnus Dei [3:27]
3-part isorhythmic motet for the Eucharist
cantus: R, V, H, EL, KL - tenor: S, D
03 - Puisque la mort [11:43]
3-part ballade. Elegy on the death of Eleanor de Aragon
cantus: V, KL - tenor: S, B, D - bassus: C, K
04 - Gloria. Spiritus et alme [5:29]
4-part mass section, troped
cantus: V, EL
05 - Heylas que feray [6:31]
3-part virelai
cantus: V - tenor: S
06 - Gloria [2:13]
3-part canonic mass section in caccia style
cantus: R, V, H, EL, KL
07 - Già da rete d'amor [6:03]
3-part Italian ballata
tenor: B - bassus: C, K
08 - Trover ne puis [8:33]
3-part rondeau in commixtio style
tenor: S - bassus: K
09 - Laurea martirii ~ Conlaudanda est [9:13]
3-part and 4-part isorhythmic motet in praise of Sanit Lawrence
cantus: R, V, H, EL, KL


HUELGAS ENSEMBLE
Paul van Nevel

R Cécile Roovers
V Marie-Claude Vallin
H Ellen van Ham
EL Els Van Laethem
KL Katelijne Van Laethem
S Eitan Sorek
B Harry Van Berne
D Stéphane Van Dijck
C Willem Ceuleers
K Harry van der Kamp
trompette de ménestrel: Wim Bécu
recorders: Bart Coen, Peter Declercq
fiddle: An Van Laethem
vièle & shawm: René Van Laken



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Huelgas Ensemble - Utopia Triumphans - The Great Polyphony of the Renaissance

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Classical, Renaissance, Vocal | EAC | FLAC+CUE+LOG | Full Scans | 1CD | 269 MB | RS-MU
Sony Classical Vivarte SK 66261 | 1995


Paul van Nevel describes this disc as a gallery of the Renaissance's utopian visions, the musical counterparts of the seemingly miraculous discoveries and inventions that marked the period. Certainly these pieces stake out new realms of musical space, culminating in the two rival compositions for 40 voices by Striggio and Tallis. Most of them are familiar only by reputation, and then only to specialists. Van Nevel should be warmly thanked for bringing them to a wider audience. It is now easier to assess their relative merits, and to register a few surprises.
The most unexpected discovery here is the Mass by Costanzo Porta for a maximum of 14 voices (represented by its last two movements). Ports (d.l6Ol) was one of the last composers outside the Iberian peninsula to write in the purest Palestrinian idiom. The style is familiar enough, but the sheer opulence of the sound cannot fail to impress: one would like to have had more of it. By contrast, the 36-voice Deo gratias and the 24-voice Qui habitat (attributed to Ockeghem and Josquin respectively) are far less convincing. Both attributions have been called into question, and this listener's impression is that they are mighty thin efforts indeed. Besides, the Deo gralias has no more than 18 voices sounding at any given time - could a composer of Ockeghem's reach have contented himself with such a sleight of hand? I doubt it. On a more positive note, the inclusion of Gabrieli's 16-voice motet brings a welcome hint of mannerism to this otherwise classical programme, and brings out the best ii in van Nevel's characteristic quirkiness.
The Huelgas Ensemble are no strangers to such polyphonic behemoths (one recalls their very impressive recording of Gombert, not to mention Brumel's 12-voice Mass, El ecce terrae mo/us -Sony, 4/93 and 5/91 respectively). Their usual trademarks are in evidence here - a very Flemish depth and throatiness of timbre, captured in a warm acoustic - and if one disregards the odd fluffs, the balance between overall effect and attention to detail is finely judged. As I hinted earlier, much of this is virgin territory on CD, but even in the one piece where there is fierce competition, the Huelgas more than hold their own. One may prefer The Tallis Scholars for their more balanced casting, or the Taverner Choir (EMI, 5/89 - nla) for their use of continuo (how strange that van Nevel should have passed this up!), but this Spem presents the familiar work in the unfamiliar context of a distinctly un-English sound. The pacing feels more spacious than that of Phillips, yet the two versions are only seconds apart by my stopwatch. I particularly enjoyed the appropriate hush at the word respice ("look down" - no triumphalism here!), and the surprisingly effective ritardando just preceding the final tutti. One also hears clearly the way in which Tallis takes thematic ideas from Striggio's motet; and if the latter comes across as slightly bland, it is a better piece than many critics have given it credit for. The advantage of hearing both works performed by the same singers is surely obvious. A very enjoyable disc.


TRACKLIST
1. Thomas Tallis: Spem in alium (à 40)
2. Costanzo Porta: Sanctus (à 13) / Agnus Dei (à 14)
3. Josquin Desprez: Qui habitat (à 24)
4. Johannes Ockeghem: Deo gratias (à 36)
5. Pierre de Manchicourt: Laudate Dominum (à 6)
6. Giovanni Gabrieli: Exaudi me Domine (à 16)
7. Alessandro Striggio: Ecce beatam lucem (à 40)


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Michelangelo ROSSI (1601-1656) La poesia cromatica - Huelgas Ensemble - Paul Van Nevel

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DDD | TT: 60:50 | APE (EAC Rip) + CUE + LOG files | scans HQ (complete booklet + covers) | 265 Mb + 76 MB (scans)
Recorded live at the Cathedral St. Pierre, Saintes, France, July 13, 2008


Michelangelo Rossi (1601-1656) was, in addition to an outstanding violonist and organist, one of the most significant composers of the Italian Renaissance period. Paul Van Nevel has discovered three of Rossi's instrumental works and thirteen of his ground-braking madrigals and presents them here for the world premiere recording with his award-winning Huelgas Esemble.


TRACKLIST
1 Per non mi dir ch'io moia
2 Alma afflitta, che fai?
3 Ohimé, se tanto amante
4 Partite sopra la romanesca
5 Era l'anima mia
6 O miseria d'amante
7 Mentre d'ampia voragine tonante
8 Moribondo mio pianto
9 Or che la notte
10 Voi volete ch'io mora
11 Langue al vostro languir
12 Come sian dolorose
13 Toccata settima
14 Ah dolente partita
15 Ciechi desir
16 Occhi, un tempo mia vita


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Huelgas Ensemble -- Matthaeus Pipelare: Missa "L'homme armé" - Chansons - Motets

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Classical, Renaissance, Sacred | EAC | FLAC+CUE+LOG | Full Scans | 1CD | 294 MB | RS-MU
Sony Classical Vivarte SK 68258 | 1996


Paul Van Nevel has done a great deal for composers whom he judges to have been unjustly neglected. Matthaeus Pipelare is yet another of that seemingly infinite legion of accomplished and exciting composers born c1450 – there are so many of them! – who seem to have been completely ignored by all but the most specialized scholars. His style is typical of what could be described as the Franco-Flemish mainstream. A more specific characterization is tricky; if pushed, I might suggest ‘post-Busnois’, with traces of Josquin in his more scholastic mood. That, at any rate, is the impression one gets from the longest work on the disc, his Missa L’homme arme. This is a welcome addition to the CD repertory of Masses built on the famous tune – although it is probably true that Pipelare’s style is occasionally cramped by the weight of that daunting tradition. Elsewhere, he is noticeably more relaxed. The secular music in particular shares in that plasticity of line and form that seems peculiarly Flemish. Certainly the songs are first-rate, sung here with all the intelligence and voluptuousness of the Huelgas Ensemble at their not infrequent best.



TRACKLIST
1. Vray dieu d'amours (Ballade à 4)
2. Een vrouelic wesen (Chanson à 4)

Fors seulement
3. I. Chanson à 4
4. II. Contrafactum with sacred text "Exortum est in tenebris"

5. Salve Regina (Antiphon à 4 & 5)
6. Memorare Mater Christi (Motet à 7)

Missa "L'homme armé" (For male voices à 4 & 5)
7. I. Kyrie
8. II. Gloria
9. III. Credo
10. IV. Sanctus - Pleni sunt - Hosanna - Benedictus
11. V. Agnus Dei


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Huelgas Ensemble - Costanzo Festa: Magnificat, Mass Parts, Motets, Madrigals

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Classical, Renaissance, Sacred | EAC | FLAC+CUE+LOG | Full Scans | 1CD | 293 MB | RS-MU
Sony Classical Vivarte SK 53116 | 1994


One of Italy's first madrigalists and motet composers. Festa and was noted in his day as a choir director, eventually becoming the maestro di cappella at the Vatican. He was among the first Italian composers to adopt the Netherlands style of counterpoint, as practiced by Willaert and Arcadelt. In fact, some scholars even consider him the first native-born Italian madrigalist. Even the critics who give that credit instead to one of the frottolists would agree that Festa played a primary role in the development not just of the Roman style, but of the Italian madrigal itself. Several of his works show the frottola influence, with one voice taking a relatively simple melody, and the other voices harmonizing underneath, providing, in effect, a vocal, chord-based accompaniment, though they most notably differ by not using a strophic structure. Others point forward more overtly by incorporating the word-painting that characterized Italian madrigals all the way into the Mannerist school, imitation among the different vocal parts, or adding minor chords and suspensions to emphasize emotional expression. He was widely admired and published, with at least one of his compositions included in nearly every important collection. His first solo book of madrigals, a collection for three voices published in 1537 (some sources give 1543), was a major success and widely reprinted throughout Italy. His motets were equally popular and one of his Te Deums is still in use at Vatican services, regularly performed at the election of new popes.


TRACKLIST
TRACKS
1. Motet: Super flumina Babylonis (a 5)
2. Missa "Se congie pris" (a 5)
a. Kyrie
b. Gloria
3. Madrigal: Constantia'l vo' pur dire (a 5)
4. Madrigal: E' morta la speranza (a 4)
5. Frottola: Quando ritrovo la mia pastorella (a 4)
6. Madrigal: Madonna oymè (a 4)
7. Madrigal: Chi vuol veder (a 4)
8. Motet: Quis dabit oculis (Elegy on the death of Anne of Brittany)
9. Motet: Tribus miraculis (a 6)
10. Magnificat septimi toni (a 4; sections a 2, 3, 7)


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