medieval.org
AS&V "Gaudeamus" CD GAU 143
1995
Matthaeus PIPELARE
(c. 1450—c.1515)
01. Salve regina [8:39]
Johannes OCKEGHEM
(c.1410—1497)
Missa De plus en plus
02. Kyrie [2:48]
03. Gloria [6:55]
04. Credo [8:45]
05. Sanctus, Benedictus [9:27]
06. Agnus Dei [5:39]
Gilles BINCHOIS
(c. 1400—1460)
07. De plus en plus
[5:30]
Johannes OCKEGHEM
08. Credo ‘De
village ’ [7:09]
Jacobus BARBIREAU
(d.1451)
09. Osculetur me
[7:28]
Johannes OCKEGHEM
(attr.)
10. Gaude Maria
[10:06]
THE CLERKS' GROUP
Edward Wickham
soprano: Carys Lane, Rebecca Outram, Emma Brain-Gabbott
alto: Robin Blaze, William Missin, Fergus McLusky
tenor: Stephen Harrold, James Gilchrist
bass: Edward Wickham, Jonathan Arnold
Produced by Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
Engineered by Paul Proudman and ProudSound
Recorded at St. Andrew's Church, West Wratting, 30-31 October 1995
[from The Ockeghem Collection:]
After the relatively short Missa L'homme armé (1450s),
Ockeghem established his name as a leading Mass composer with De
plus en plus and Ecce ancilla Domini, two expansive cantus
firmus cycles in which the rich counterpoint flows at a more majestic
pace than anything he had written before or since. Missa De plus
en plus seems to be the earlier of the two. It dates from
around the time that Binchois, composer of the original song De
plus en plus, died, in 1460. Ockeghem had responded to the older
man's death with a musical lament, Mors tu a navré, and
the choice of cantus firmus for the Mass may have been inspired by the
same occurrence. Ockeghem lifted the voice labelled ‘tenor’
from Binchois' song, and used it as the tenor of every major movement
of the Mass, with changing melodic ornamentation each time. There are
several details in the work to suggest English influence; the Gloria
seems close to that of such English cycles as Caput (1440s) and
Walter Frye's Nobilis et pulchra (1450s or early 60s). Just as
in Ockeghem's L'homme armé Mass, the music culminates in
an Agnus Dei of such depth and reflectiveness as seem typical
of Ockeghem alone.
Ockeghem's Credo ‘Sine nomine’ must date
from the early to mid 1470s: it is not a strict cantus firmus setting
but a free fantasy on the melody of the Gregorian Credo I - a type of
setting that was often designated “Credo de Village” in the
15th century. In 1476/7, financial accounts of the church of St
Donatian at Bruges mention a copying payment for a Credo “de
Village” by Ockeghem - surely the piece recorded here. An
extended musical portion of the “Et incarnates” is quoted
literally in the Credo of Ockeghem's Missa Au travail suis
(thought to be one of his later Masses).
Gaude Maria must be a work of the 1480s or 90s. The motet
survives with an attribution to Ockeghem in a German set of partbooks
from the 1540s, too late and peripheral for scholars to be confident of
its authenticity. Among Ockeghem's securely ascribed works, the Missa
Ma maistresse and especially the late motet Alma redemptoris
mater closely resemble it in lucid contrapuntal texture and
jubilant tone. Our image of Ockeghem's sacred music during the 1480s
and 90s has traditionally been dominated by such sombre and austerely
reflective five-part pieces as Intemerata Dei mater, and the
Masses Fors seulement and Sine nomine. If Gaude
Maria can be accepted as his, it would reveal a lighter, more
outgoing aspect to his musical outlook at the end of his life.
© Rob C. Wegman