... Et lux perpetua ... / chant1450
Trauermusik der Renaissance · Funeral Music of the Renaissance
Josquin, Agricola, Compère, Ockeghem et al.





medieval.org
chant1450
Christophorus CHR 77298

2008







1. Benedictus APPENZELLER (c.1510-1572). Musae Jovis ~ In Josquinum a Prato  [5:35]

Gregorian chant. Missa pro defunctis
2. Ego sum resurrectio  [0:44]

3. JOSQUIN (c.1440-1521). Ce povre mendiant ~ Pauper sum ego  [1:40]

4. JOSQUIN. Cueurs desolez ~ Plorans ploravit  [1:59]

5. Francesco SPINACINO (c.1475-1510). Recercar  [3:00]

6. Johannes OCKEGHEM (c.1410-1497). Mort tu as navré de ton dart ~ Miserere  [7:25]

7. Alexandre AGRICOLA (1446-1506). Revenez tous regretz ~ Quis det ut veniat  [1:42]

Gregorian chant. Missa pro defunctis
8. In paradisum [0:39]

9. Alexandre AGRICOLA. L'eure est venue ~ Circumdederunt me  [4:52]

10. JOSQUIN. Nymphes des bois ~ Requiem  [3:59]

Conrad PAUMANN (c.1410-1473) · Buxheimer Orgelbuch
11. Languir en mille destresse  [3:33]

Gregorian chant. Missa pro defunctis
12. Absolve, Domine  [2:02]

13. JOSQUIN. Nymphes nappés ~ Circumdederunt me  [2:22]

14. Francesco SPINACINO. Adieu mes amours  [2:53]

Gregorian chant. Missa pro defunctis
15. Domine Jesu Christe  [3:28]

16. Anonymous (1506). Se je souspire ~ Ecce iterum  [4:03]

Gregorian chant. Missa pro defunctis
17. Libera me Domine  [2:38]

Conrad PAUMANN · Buxheimer Orgelbuch
18. Dueil angoisseux  [4:09]

19. Loyset COMPÈRE (c.1445-1518). Male bouche ~ Circumdederunt me  [1:09]

20. Loyset COMPÈRE. Plaine d'ennuy de longue main attainte ~ Anima mea  [2:36]

Gregorian chant. Missa pro defunctis
21. Requiem aeternam  [1:54]







chant 1450

Akira Tachikawa, countertenor
Daniel Manhart, tenor
Juan Díaz de Corcuera, tenor
Ismael González Arróniz, bass

Elizabeth Rumsey, vielle, viola da gamba
Masako Art, harp
Norihisa Sugawara, lute, viola da gamba
Gregor Ehrsam, organ



Recording: 14.-18.2.2008, Kirche St. Germanus, CH-Seewen SO
Ⓟ + © 2008






chant 1450 is an international ensemble specialising in the sacred and secular repertoire of the 15th and 16th century. It was formed in summer 2003 by a group of musicians in the milieu of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. chant 1450’s first concert series La contenance angloise – sacred vocal music of the 15th century was performed to great acclaim in Switzerland in January 2005. This was followed by highly successful debuts in Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic and invitations to appear at prestigious festivals such as the Rheingau Festival (Germany) and the 5th A cappella Week in Hannover (Germany). The ensemble’s first CD Du fond de ma pensée – Vocal Music of the French Reformation (CHR 77297) was released on the Christophorus label in autumn 2007, followed now by ...et lux perpetua... – Funeral music of the Renaissance.

chant 1450 specialises in a rarely heard repertoire, for example the great a cappella masses of the 15th century and the psalm motets of the French Reformation around 1570. Instead of focusing on individual composers, its concerts and CDs are thematic in conception, which makes for fascinating, varied programming. The ensemble also collaborates with artists from other genres, for instance Paul Giger, violin (www.paul-giger.ch), known for his ECM recordings, and Mich Gerber, double bass (www.michgerber.ch).

Further information about chant 1450 is available on the website www.chant1450.ch






…et lux perpetua…
funeral music of the Renaissance


Mourning music at the time of the Renaissance has many facets: solemn, subdued lamentations for Holy Week are found alongside funeral masses, and intimate chansons from the court of Burgundy alongside magnificent motets praising a deceased prince. This CD …et lux perpetua… – Funeral music of the Renaissance introduces a range of pieces from this repertoire of mourning.

The motet-chansons constitute a small yet distinguished special repertoire whose most famous pieces are elegies composed on the death of other composers, for example Johannes Ockeghem’s Mort tu as navré de ton dart – Miserere (1460) [6] on the death of Gilles Binchois and Josquin’s Nymphes des bois – Requiem (1497) [10] on the death of Ockeghem. This genre attracted a small number of composers: apart from Ockeghem and Josquin, chiefly Alexander Agricola and Loyset Compère. No fewer than six such works by Compère have survived. One characteristic of the motet-chanson is the long-note Latin cantus firmus, which comments on the French text in the upper voices. The French text speaks of love and death, grief and longing, whilst the Latin texts are often taken from the liturgy for the dead, from Gregorian lamentations or the requiem mass. Most motet-chansons appear to be occasional compositions; some exclusively Latin versions with the tenor voice text in all parts have also been handed down, indicating a liturgical function. Around 1500 the initially simple, three-part texture of the chanson was extended to encompass the low register, which gave rise to Josquin’s large-scale works: Nymphes des bois – Requiem [10] with a French text by Jean Molinet, Cueurs desolez – Plorans ploravit [4] (possibly 1503 on the death of Louis of Luxembourg) and Nymphes nappés – Circumdederunt me [13]. The solemn genre was especially cultivated at the court of Margaret of Austria, daughter of Mary of Burgundy, at Mechelen around 1500. Margaret aligned herself with the refined culture of the Burgundian court, which faded after the death of Charles the Bold in 1477, and wrote a number of captivating texts herself, for instance the lament for her dead brother Philip the Fair Se je souspire – Ecce iterum (1506) [16]. Little is known about motet-chanson performance practice, but instrumental settings of secular pieces from the court of Burgundy exist in the earliest instrumental tablatures such as the Lochamer Liederbuch (c.1450) and the Buxheimer Orgelbuch (c.1460). We can therefore assume that motet-chansons were arranged according to the availability of singers and instruments. Our CD programme contains several purely instrumental arrangements of motet-chansons.

One special illustration of mourning music is Benedikt Appenzeller’s Musæ Jovis – In Josquinum a Prato [1], a lament on the death of Josquin with a text by Gerard Avidius. The work was published by Tilman Susato in Antwerp in 1545 in his seventh volume of chansons. This was entirely devoted to pieces by Josquin and marked the beginning of a veritable Josquin renaissance: within a few years Josquin collections had been published by several other printers – more than twenty years after his death. Appenzeller’s composition appears alongside two other elegies dedicated to Josquin; the most famous of these «troix Epitaph dudict Josquin» is Nicolas Gombert’s motet-chanson Musae Jovis – Circumdederunt me. Susato’s publication is unique in that it reveals a historical consciousness for the first time: honouring a famous composer from a departed generation with an exclusive edition of his works was something new. Its devotional nature is emphasised by the laments.

The mourning repertoire is complemented by the instrumental fantasies Languir en mille destresse [11] and Dueil angoisseux [18] from the Buxheimer Orgelbuch and Recercare [5] and Adieu mes amours [14] from a Petrucci edition. A plainchant assortment from the Missa pro Defunctis [8,12,15,17,21] returns us to the motet-chansons: the most famous melody from the funeral mass, Requiem aeternam [21], was used as a cantus firmus in various motet-chansons.

Daniel Manhart