Medieval & Renaissance Recording of the Year - 1998

This has been a very strong year for recordings of music within the core
Medieval & Renaissance repertory, and consequently this year's top choices
could have been winners in any year going back to 1995.  1994 was an
especially strong year, and 1999 is shaping up to be comparable.  What sets
a performance apart for me is both a coherent & compelling rendition of
central repertory, as well as some new & thought-provoking aspect to the
interpretation.  I continue to emphasize the "central" repertory, because
that is my predilection, even though various second-tier repertories
thankfully continue to be brought before the public.  I don't "collect"
recordings, but I do make every effort to hear interpretations of interest.

Of course, none of these selections or discussions are a matter of science.
I've written more elaborate disclaimers and remarks on how I choose
recordings in previous years, and readers interested in those sorts of
meta-issues are encouraged to read previous introductions or my column.
I will cut that discussion short here.  One additional thought is that
what makes for a great recording is not necessarily what makes for a great
concert, since the recording by its nature is listened to again & again.
The concert must make an immediate impression, whereas thoughts on recorded
interpretations can simmer over a longer period.  Impressions can change
for better or worse with familiarity.

        Record of the Year

The main contenders for my top pick this year represent rather different
repertory, so it makes the comparison more difficult than it might
otherwise be.  Of course, there is no real reason I need to pick a single
"Record of the Year" but it is a bit of fun, and a challenge which can be
useful for focusing one's thoughts on both the evolution of interpretation
and on the repertory itself.  The idea that interpretation "evolves" is a
controversial statement, and I believe it is generally without merit, at
least in the sense of "progress" or other normative implications of the
term.  However, in the present repertory, I believe it still holds a kernel
of truth.  As I've repeated in the past, performers of this music simply
do not have the same level of familiarity with it as do performers of
Beethoven or Gershwin.  Once we have a couple of full generations who grow
up with the music, the idea of evolution in performance will cease to be
meaningful at all.

Nowhere has a basic understanding of the repertory itself been so slow
in coming as for the late medieval Ars Subtilior songs of the early 15th
century.  This music has been appraised incorrectly, has been chastised
for certain excesses, and has generally been treated as a marginal output.
However, the sheer quality of this relatively large volume of songs is now
becoming apparent, and there are significant recordings devoted to it every
year.  In the present case, the French ensemble Alla Francesca seeks to
demonstrate not how these songs ended an era, but rather how they offer
points of continuity with the following generation of work, usually
represented as Renaissance.  The idea of "boundary" has been argued of
late, but what Alla Francesca is basically doing is embracing the entire
15th century as a part of the medieval era and performing the songs of
Dufay and his generation more in line with medieval concerns on
articulation and tuning.

Although it would be too easy to become engrossed in the technical and
theoretical issues of such an approach, the significant point here is
that the wonderful Beaute parfaite program illustrates a continuity of
style from the Ars Nova of Machaut to the Burgundy of Dufay & Binchois.
Construction of both the program and the performances themselves reveals a
virtuoso sweep which the ensemble regards as the true characteristic of the
"Autumn of the Middle Ages" taken as a whole.  The program includes both
marvelous new takes on relatively well-known songs as well as more obscure
but equally worthy tracks.  This is certain to be a major program for some
time to come.

   Beaute parfaite: L'Automne du Moyen Age
   Alla Francesca
   Opus 111 30-173
   http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/op1-173.htm

Among the virtuoso performances, the recorder playing of Pierre Hamon
is quite striking, especially for its use of ornament within an approach
to phrasing which remains motivated by the voice.  Of course, very clear
diction and idiomatic phrasing are major strengths of this ensemble, and
the coherency brought to what are otherwise rather convoluted songs is
particularly welcome.  The sheer cogency of the interpretation, and the
evident identification with the songs, makes the program increasingly
compelling.  The solo voices of Raphael Boulay, Brigitte Lesne, and
Emmanuel Bonnardot are richly nuanced and full of subtle shadings which
serve to enhance and shape the flow of the music.  The program alternates
moods, with the lighter songs given very bright treatments, and ornaments
used to good effect without becoming dominant.  Even within individual
songs, instruments alternate on lines with voices or other instruments,
less often doubling, but providing a shift in mood & texture.  There is a
basic dynamism to the program and interpretation which serves to set this
entire period in a context different from the languid one to which it often
defaults.

The musical sophistication and emotional depth of the Ars Subtilior has
become increasingly apparent, not just in this release, but in continuing
efforts by other groups such as the Huelgas Ensemble, Ferrara Ensemble,
and Mala Punica.  Once one follows the path of appreciation, what makes
these songs so appealing is the sinewy quality of their melodies and
the different rhythmic guises into which they are placed.  The use of
syncopation is advanced, and the counterpoint offers a broad range of
harmonic coloring as well as interesting independent melodies of its own.
It is against this large and potent body of work that the songs of a
Binchois or a Dufay should be perceived for maximum appreciation on both
ends.

Rather than release only one album of this music, Alla Francesca released
two this year.  I will offer the other here as a supplement to the first,
as they could have as easily been a 2CD set, but the present situation
does allow the curious listener to take less risk.  The following program
is constructed in the same way, illustrating the same styles, and again
featuring a nice mix of more & less well-known works.

   Armes, Amours
   Alla Francesca / Alta
   Opus 111 30-221
   http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/op1-221.htm

Alla Francesca is joined by the Alta ensemble of outdoor wind instruments,
and those tracks serve to add a different scope of activity to the album
as a whole.  While the first program draws early strength from the surreal
Fumeux fume of Solage, the second places the even more affecting lament
on Machaut's death Armes, amours as its first major song.  While the
first starts its concluding segment with Binchois' heart-wrenching Ay,
douloureux, the second places his more contrite Tant plus ayme in that
position.  The chronological climax is then surely the 3-voice rondeau
Est-il merchy of Busnoys, a masterfully subtle composer whose songs are
still under-recorded.  The variety of sonority throughout the two CDs is
equalled only by the integrity of the interpretive stance, making for a
lasting musical experience of rare power.

Runners-up...

As mentioned, there are several compelling recordings this year,
and so the remainder of the list is particularly strong.

   Love Songs of Binchois

Although the transition from the late medieval style into the 15th century,
and ultimately into the Renaissance wherever one chooses to place the
boundary, can be extremely fascinating, the unified song outputs of the
15th century composers have an intensity of their own.  Nowhere is this
more true than in the songs of Gilles Binchois (c.1400-1460), a composer
credited both with establishing the pre-eminence of the thirds-based style
in Burgundy and with teaching Johannes Ockehgem.  Binchois' stability and
concentration on three-voice chanson writing contrast with Dufay's broader
stylistic range and more cosmopolitan demeanor.  Although Dufay's songs are
certainly deserving of all the attention they receive, Binchois' output
remains relatively unknown, especially since in their own time, Binchois'
songs were more widely copied.  This is due both to the range of genres in
which Dufay worked and to the more restrained & subtle quality which
dominates Binchois' entire oeuvre.

Not surprisingly, the combination of Binchois' elegant songs and the great
French medieval Ensemble Gilles Binchois is a very pregnant one.  Dominique
Vellard and his ensemble have included Binchois songs on previous programs,
but this is the first to be devoted entirely to them.  Although it does not
display the innovation which I often seek, it represents the other pinnacle
of art, namely perfection.  It is a program which simply must exist, and
now that it does, one is struck primarily by the pure mastery of it, both
on the part of the composer and on the part of the performers.  Binchois'
songs are a rare synthesis of convention with a rich interior life, and
need a performance of this magnitude to bring them to life.

   Mon souverain desir - Binchois: Chansons
   Ensemble Gilles Binchois - Dominique Vellard
   Virgin Veritas 45285
   http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/vir45285.htm

Although Dominique Vellard, one of the most distinguished performers of
medieval music in the past twenty years, is often criticized for giving
unemotional performances, nowhere is the fallacy of that statement so
evident as in his recital of Binchois.  There are no histrionics, no
melodrama, quite simply no cheap effects, but there is an intense and
passionate connection with the music to be performed.  Although they might
not reach out to grab one's ear, and Binchois' songs do not do this by
their nature, once their world is broached, these interpretations are
infinitely more compelling than more simplistic readings.  The Ensemble
Gilles Binchois always prepares extensively, and that fact is fully evident
here in songs of the highest compositional polish themselves.  This
recording characterizes the sublimated, aching quality of the age as well
as any.  The singing of ravishing soprano Anne-Marie Lablaude continues
to be too under-appreciated, despite more than twenty years of activity,
and in this recital the ensemble also includes the solo voice of young
countertenor Akira Tachikawa who is sure to intrigue many.  Of course there
is Dominique Vellard himself, and his clear tenor always seems to define
the very nature of both the ensemble and the Burgundian love songs
themselves.

   Motets of Ockeghem

The next selection is the first to represent one the crucial repertory
areas of the period, the magnificent Franco-Flemish mass cycles of the
15th century.  This combination of abstract melodies and architectural
glory is almost unique, flowering fully before it was subsumed by the
dominance of pervasive imitation and simpler approaches to text.  In
the mid- to late-15th century, the musical aspects are still at their
height, and the result is a broad body of work featuring a combination
of compelling argument and contrapuntal innovation rarely seen before
or since.

The combination of the increasingly well-known motets of Ockeghem with
the previously unrecorded work of Guillaume Faugues (fl.c.1460) is full of
possibilities.  Faugues is one of the most significant figures to develop
the early Franco-Flemish cantus firmus mass, yet he remains largely unknown
today.  His four extant masses are contemporaneous with the late cycles of
Dufay and the early work of Ockeghem, and so mark another important voice
in the development of these techniques.  In Faugues' case, there is a
predilection toward cycles unified through literal repetition, perhaps
foreshadowing Franck(!), as well as an increased fascination with bass
voices shared with Ockeghem.  The Missa la basse danse is a very broadly
conceived cycle, with many original moments, not to mention the historical
distinction of basing a mass cycle on an instrumental dance tune.  Together
with the four authentic vocal motets of Ockeghem, the present recording
contains one of the few instrumental masterpieces of the period, his puzzle
canon Ut heremita solus, as performed by recorder consort.

   Vox Aurea - Ockeghem: Motets / Faugues: Missa la basse danse
   Obsidienne - Emmanuel Bonnardot
   Opus 111 30-222
   http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/op1-222.htm

The choice of recorder consort for the instrumental motet, and its short
interlocking motives, is actually suggestive of the vocal performance
and its emphasis on high, light voices.  This is easily one of the most
striking interpretations to emerge in recent years, with a rare energy
level and an unusually angular quality to the phrasing.  The intonation is
also highly intriguing, paralleling the "late medieval" approach of Alla
Francesca above (of which director Emmanuel Bonnardot is also a member),
and approaching the works of Faugues & Ockeghem from a clear medieval
context, rather than the more Renaissance-oriented ideas on performance
practice with which this music is usually prepared.  The intonation can be
surprisingly different at times, especially in its use of some microtonal
divisions and slurs as outlined by medieval authors such as Marchettus.
Ultimately, the choices are quite successful, and serve to provide a new
sense of impetus and motivation for many of the compositional choices in
both Ockeghem & Faugues.  One certainly gets the sense that Ockeghem is
stretching the medium, with its combination of Pythagorean intervals, to
its limit, rather than merely marking time until the High Renaissance.  It
is therefore a set of choices which serves to emphasize the revolutionary
character of the music.  Beyond these details, which may not be apparent
to all listeners, the ensemble combinations are stimulating.  There is a
genuinely light texture with great clarity, and a willingness to change
ensemble constitution based on relative tessitura in the individual works.
The preparation and dedication are quite evident, as expressed both in the
unity of vision as well as the confidence with which the phrases are so
clearly declaimed.

   Conductus of Notre Dame

Ars Antigua polyphony is one area which is fairly well-covered on
recording, especially for the Notre Dame school.  Approaches to performing
this music are moving more into the realm of refinement and personal
interpretation than merely getting some superficially correct results.
That has been the case for the past ten years or more, especially since
the rather perilous and uneffective "modal rhythm" idea was discarded.
Of course, Notre Dame polyphony is still one of the West's most impressive
musical statements, and that fact is underscored by the reception this
repertory finds with the general public.  Although the organum genre, as
built upon a plainchant base, is the best known, the conductus genre of
this era contains both compelling counterpoint and original melodic
material.  It deserves to be more widely known.

Together with a wide range of pieces in conductus style for from one to
four voices, including some attributed to Perotin, the following program
also contains some works in other genres of the time, including the
emerging motet.  It presents one of the most compelling glimpses of the
originality in both text & melody which inspired the conductus writers to
build upon the techniques of organum.

   Vox Sonora: Conduits de l'Ecole de Notre Dame
   Diabolus in Musica - Antoine Guerber
   Studio SM 2673
   http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/ssm2673.htm

The Ensemble Diabolus in Musica continues to make impressive contributions
to this repertory, after being mostly unknown only last year.  The present
performance exemplifies a range of interpretation which accommodates the
smallest melodic nuance within an emphatically phrased vision of the larger
forms.  The diction & articulation are especially impressive in this
production, as is the range of vocal sonority.  Syllabic material is
handled with finesse and insight, and lower lines are projected with an
earthy vigor which this ensemble continues to cultivate.  The integrity
of the overall vision of the Notre Dame repertory is totally compelling,
allowing this performance to establish itself as one of lasting
consequence.

Honorable mention...

   A Year for Franco-Flemish Polyphony

Beyond the landmark program of Faugues & Ockeghem released by Obsidienne,
there were several highly significant recordings of mass cycles from the
peak of the Franco-Flemish art available this year.  This is some of the
most complex and compelling music in the entire Western canon, and
something which continues to be elusive in performance.  Nowhere is the
debate on musica ficta (unwritten accidentals) so intense, and nowhere
is the scope of detail awaiting coherent performance so immense.
Fundamentally this is abstract music, appearing mostly prior to the point
at which melody & harmony were placed in subservience to text, but the
proper nuance of vocal articulation combined with larger motion requires a
non-trivial balance of performance concerns.  This has been an important
year for new and worthwhile approaches.

First is a continuation by Gothic Voices of their entry into this
repertory, this time with an important program devoted to the sublime but
relatively neglected Pierre de la Rue (c.1460-1518).  Hopefully this fine
recording can serve to increase interest in La Rue's music, which combines
a rare subtlety & grace with some of the most involved technical concerns
of the era.  It may therefore present more barriers to appreciation than
that of many of his contemporaries, but it will ultimately repay any
investment.

   La Rue: Missa de Feria / Missa Sancta Dei Genitrix
   Gothic Voices - Christopher Page
   Hyperion 67010
   http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/hyp67010.htm

The performance itself exhibits both the traditional strengths and
weaknesses of Gothic Voices.  There is an excellent clarity of line, and a
combined vocal texture which provides both lucid individual sonorities and
a total harmony.  However, there is a lack of nuance, a tendency to gloss
over some details, and a basic detachment which becomes apparent on
sufficient exposure.  In the present case, there is also good energy and
a greater comfort level with the idea of performing mass cycles of this
scope.  This is clearly a performance of consequence.

In the year following his anniversary, Ockeghem may have been as
well-served on record, if not better.  The recent batch of renditions
and complementary listener appreciation has served to confirm Ockeghem's
stature today.  Interest in the work of Rebecca Stewart and the Cappella
Pratensis ensemble has also been rising, and they contribute to the
Ockeghem revolution with an interpretation of music which is somewhat
earlier than their usual focus on the generation of Josquin.

   I Fiamminghi - Ockeghem: Missa Mi-mi
   Cappella Pratensis - Rebecca Stewart
   Ricercar 206 402
   http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/ric06402.htm

This is one of the more innovative and intriguing interpretations on
the list, combining an admirable willingness to readdress some of the
underlying performance issues with a sometimes frustrating tendency to rely
on a mystical latency over emphatic statement.  The performance as a whole
projects a strongly pensive quality, and is generally performed quietly.
The sonority of the voices is non-standard and certainly interesting.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the interpretation is the approach
to tempo, in which relationships proceed more along an internal rhythm
than a metronomic clock.  It can be difficult to pick up the pulse of
the performance, but once realized, it is consistent with itself and does
exhibit the proper relationships.  All of these changes from the more usual
performance idioms combine to allow this rendition to exhibit some aspects
of the cycle more clearly than they have been in the past while obscuring
some others.

A program combining a major Early Music work with a 20th century
composition in a completely different style is certainly a rarity for
this list, but the recent Dufay program by the previously unknown "Young
Soloists" (some of whose members have participated in better-known
ensembles) makes a strong case for inclusion.  This is not the place to
discuss the postmodern style of Thierry Pecou, but it should be noted that
it a relatively quiet work in the most oblique French commentary mode.

   L'Homme arme - Dufay / Pecou
   Les Jeunes Solistes - Rachid Safir
   Media 7 "Grave" 6
   http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/me7gr6.htm

The performance of Dufay's Missa L'Homme arme is a fine one.  It is nicely
nuanced, with both a good overall pacing and a balance of vocal sonority
between line & ensemble.  Regular readers will know that I tend to prefer
French singers in this repertory, and so the articulation and diction are
more satisfactory.  Unfortunately, the production itself is recorded rather
quietly in a big acoustic so that the articulation becomes more difficult
to hear than it might have been.  Although the modern work is clearly
intended to frame the entire conception, of which Dufay is only a part,
the Dufay mass performance holds up on its own merits.

        The 16th Century Keyboard receives more attention

The wonderful body of instrumental music from the 16th century is
still relatively neglected, but it does receive a slow trickle of
attention.  Perhaps one barrier to a wider appreciation is the fact
that instrumentation in that time was looser, and consequently
offers a greater freedom for the performers, but makes it harder
for the listener to identify repertory with one particular instrument.
There is also the abstract quality of the music, as it built upon
the previous generation of polyphony, especially as the contemporaneous
vocal polyphony was forced to give a greater prominence to text.
The keyboard was supreme throughout this era, although it is now
clear that in many cases instrumental ensemble arrangements naturally
occurred from keyboard scores.

Although he has long been one of the unquestioned geniuses of early
original keyboard composition, Antonio de Cabezon (1510-1566)
continues to be relatively under-recorded.  This has changed
substantially in the past few years, but appreciation has been
slower to develop. For one thing the Spanish keyboard forms are
relatively unfamiliar, but it should be natural to hear these
essentially variation forms from the same perspective which has
made the English keyboard music of the period successful.  I happen
to be partial to the stringed keyboard instruments, moreso than
the organ, and so a harpsichord recital devoted to Cabezon is
especially welcome.

        Cabezon: Obras de Musica para Tecla...
        Enrico Baiano
        Symphonia 98156
        http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/sym98156.htm

The present program is a very good one, illustrating all of Cabezon's
major forms.  It gives one the opportunity to appraise some of the
richness of contrapuntal treatment of which he was capable.  The
performance of Enrico Baiano is self-assured and articulate, never
allowing itself to wallow in the more languid moments.  It is
well-conceived, exhibiting a good feel for the music and what drives
it forward.  There is less variation in harpsichord sonority than
might be desirable, but the basic lucidity of the interpretation
makes it one of consequence.

Claudio Merulo (1533-1604) is perhaps the most important Italian
keyboard composer of the later 16th century, yet basically unknown
outside of pedagogical surveys.  Although his music lacks some of
the variety of Cabezon's, it is of nearly comparable stature,
especially in its early exploration of "toccata" ideas.  Merulo
was a true figure of his age, engaged in all manner of investigations
of the period, including the occult.  The clean contours of his
music mask some hidden meanings, and basically a new approach to
how the keyboard could be used on its own.

        Merulo: Toccate, Ricercari, Canzoni
        Fabio Bonizzoni
        Arcana 30
        http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/acn30.htm

Fabio Bonizzoni is one of the rising stars of early keyboard music.
His playing combines a rare touch & sensitivity with an instinctive
understanding of the music.  Merulo's toccatas can seem like an
endless and pointless stream of ornamentation without a rational
organization to make sense of them, and Bonizzoni more than addresses
this problem.  The present interpretation argues forcefully for
this music, and may serve to buoy interest in Merulo.  The phrasing
is impeccable, and the combination of strength & lightness is sorely
needed, since finding the right "bounce" is often the most difficult
aspect of performing Renaissance keyboard music.  Organ & harpsichord
technique are equally accomplished.  Bonizzoni's recording of Andrea
Gabrieli on Stradivarius this year is also one of definite consequence,
even if the music has less scope.

        An Ars Nova entry

Besides the landmark entries devoted to the secular music of the
end of the medieval era, this year also saw a fine interpretation
of an earlier standard source by a young & relatively unknown
ensemble.  The Codex Reina is preserved in Venice, and is paradoxically
one of the primary sources for French Ars Nova songs beyond Machaut.
The program is well-chosen, and complements existing selections
well.

        Codex Reina: Ballades, Virelais et Rondeaux, 14eme siecle
        Continens Paradisi
        Symphonia 97155
        http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/sym97155.htm

The clarity and sonorities of this ensemble are particularly welcome.
There can be an "edge" to the sound which is appealing to me, and
the articulation is always excellent, even from the instruments.
The phrasing is impeccable in the tradition of the Schola Cantorum
Basiliensis, and the variety of instrumental sonority is impressive
without being overbearing.  This is the sort of unpretentious
release which will seem all the more impressive after this young
ensemble makes a bigger name for itself.

        The Clerks' Group comes into their own

The Clerks' Group have always had a penchant for recording music
of very high interest to me, but as regular readers will know, I
have been rather ambivalent toward their interpretations.  They
have a tendency to lapse into the stereotypical English vocal
sonorities & phrasings, neither of which I find particularly
appropriate to the Franco-Flemish repertory.  In that sense, they
have been a source of some frustration, but their progress has also
been steady.  This year the interpretations really come into their
own, and begin to build a personal connection with the music.  Some
of the negative factors remain, but in diminished form, and replaced
partly by an increasing knowledge of the individual works and style
of the time.

This was also the year in which the Clerks' Group branched out,
devoting major programs to composers other than Ockeghem.  Each of
the three recordings listed below would have easily made this list
based on its own merit, and so it is too tempting to group the
comments for all three together in this way.  I only hope that the
Clerks' Group and Edward Wickham can continue this level of
development in the coming years.

Perhaps the most impressive of the three is their Obrecht program,
especially as the kind of drive & "spectacle" which Obrecht sometimes
employs can fit their style more easily.  The Missa Malheur me bat
is an important work in the transition to the High Renaissance,
and the accompanying Martini motets are also very welcome on disc.

        Obrecht: Missa Malheur me bat
        The Clerks' Group - Edward Wickham
        AS&V Gaudeamus 171
        http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/asv171.htm

Next is the first significant release devoted specifically to
Johannes Tinctoris (c.1435-c.1511), the most important theorist of
the time.  Tinctoris' compositions have appeared on a few anthologies,
but remained basically unknown until this very welcome recital.
Although perhaps not quite up to the level of contemporaries like
Dufay (and Tinctoris' music tends to be rather old-fashioned) and
Ockeghem, there are several interesting contrapuntal ideas found
in these works.

        Tinctoris: Missa L'Homme arme / Missa Sine nomine
        The Clerks' Group - Edward Wickham
        Cypres "Musique en Wallonie" 3608
        http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/cyp3608.htm

Finally, the Clerks have continued their Ockeghem series by selecting
a program which does not compete with other recent recordings.
Combined with the progress in their style, that makes it a summit
in the series thus far.  Ockeghem needs no further introduction,
but these masses continue to show the breadth of idea of which he
was capable as well as the sheer "magic" which can be said to propel
his counterpoint.

        Ockeghem: Missa Caput / Missa Ma maistresse
        The Clerks' Group - Edward Wickham
        AS&V Gaudeamus 186
        http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/asv186.htm

The digression to record both Obrecht & Tinctoris seems to have
allowed the Clerks' Group to come back to Ockeghem with a new
perspective.  There is an increased tendency to let Ockeghem's
majesty speak for itself, and not to shout out in those husky voices
at the first sign of something interesting.  I eagerly await the
future issues.

I hope I haven't been too discursive this year.  Happy 1999!

 [ Note: This is a text version of a document available on the web at
        http://www.medieval.org/music/early/98.html
The remaining URLs in this document are links to detailed content
listings for the recordings mentioned. ]

Todd M. McComb
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