Missa D'ung aultre amer (Josquin) - from CDGIM051 - Hyperion Records

Reviews

‘This ends a hugely enjoyable project begun in 1986, not originally envisaged as a complete cycle of Josquin’s Masses but which spawned consistently superb releases until completion became inevitable. This final disc is described by Phillips as ‘a perfect showcase for [Josquin’s] genius’ and presents a trio of early-middle works offering some exquisite textures. Who better to navigate such extraordinary music than the masters of tranquillity and clarity themselves, The Tallis Scholars? Their exacting style delineates the distinctive sound world of each Mass while maintaining a consistent sonic beauty … a superb end to a magnificent cycle of recordings’ (Gramophone)

‘With this almost valedictory recording, The Tallis Scholars complete their monumental nine-disc project to record all of Josquin’s Mass settings … The Scholars’ sound is lean and clear: every strand of the musical web is beautifully illuminated, and the text is carved with a sculptural sharpness … a mesmerising final chapter to this unforgettable musical odyssey’ (BBC Music Magazine)» More

‘Timeless music, beautifully sung, impeccable phrasing and intonation, and we've become used to the high quality of the recordings over the years—that luminous sense of space and depth. Well, it's taken them over 33 years to finish the project, but that's it—complete. Eighteen masses by Josquin, nine volumes ending with the three masterpieces on this final recording. A major achievement in time for Josquin's 500th anniversary next year’ (BBC Record Review)

‘This CD marks the triumphant completion of The Tallis Scholars’ cycle of Masses by the fifteenth-century composer Josquin des Prés. And as the choir’s director Peter Phillips points out, the first and greatest of these works reflects both the vanity of its dedicatee and the felicitousness of its construction. The Duke of Ferrara liked to hear his name sung obviously and often—he’d have fitted in well in the era of Donald Trump—so the composer took his name and title and turned their vowels into music, to create a neat little eight-note melody. He then ordains that this melody should be sung 47 times, mostly by the tenors. The effects are surprisingly intricate, and the singing here has a lovely warmth and freshness; the other two works have subtly different colourings. The acoustic of the Oxford chapel in which this music is recorded is perfectly appropriate’ (The Independent)

‘All told, a mighty achievement’ (The Guardian)» More

‘Two golden qualities leap out at once. One is the glorious singing. Tonal purity, articulation, ensemble spirit: everything here is sheer perfection, but it’s never the perfection that chills. Phillips’ unaccompanied voices, mostly numbering nine, bring passion and warmth to every note, however complex the counterpoint’s web. The second is the forceful appeal of Josquin’s music. If Phillips wanted to end the series with a bang, he couldn’t have chosen a better work than the 'Missa Hercules Dux Ferrarie', written for Duke Ercole I of Ferrara, a classy arts patron who ultimately became Lucrezia Borgia’s father-in-law … this is a heavenly album’ (The Times)

‘All good things must come to an end, and this ninth release in the Tallis Scholars’ series of recordings of the Masses of Josquin is it … where now for the Tallis Scholars? Wherever they are bound, I shall continue to follow their progress with great interest. Meanwhile, this final shot in their Josquin locker may well be joining my choice of Recordings of the Year’ (MusicWeb International)

‘This is the final disc in The Tallis Scholars’ complete recording of Josquin des Pres’s masses. Perhaps it is just as well, because this reviewer is running out of superlatives for the music itself and for this choir’s performances of it … here they still are, 34 years later, doing a major work full justice and laying bare the glories of two more of those marginal masses’ (Early Music)

The Missa D’ung aultre amer is another odd-ball in Josquin’s Mass corpus. It is probably slightly earlier than Hercules Dux Ferrarie and Faysant regretz, but just as much shows a unique side to Josquin’s technique. Here he is not just compact, but brief. This brevity comes from a syllabic style, especially in the Gloria and Credo where the texts are telescoped by overlapping them. The Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus show greater freedom, though the phrases are short: most unusually the Kyrie is longer than the Gloria. This style probably comes from the polyphonic lauda current in the Ambrosian rite of Milan when Josquin worked there during the 1480s, which also had the characteristic of substituting a motet for the Benedictus and second Hosanna, missing here and replaced by Tu solus qui facis.

The setting lacks the space to indulge in polyphonic elaboration or sonic display. There are no duets (all three Agnuses, for example, are both very brief and full) or canons or added voices. The interest for once is focused on simple chords, and nowhere more than in the motet Tu solus qui facis. Simple chords should be easier to write than complex polyphony, and yet plenty of composers down the years (many of them Victorian) have shown how easily this kind of music becomes predictable and tedious. Tu solus qui facis, however, is made up of perfectly located chords, solemn and resonant. Behind them, and indeed behind much of the detail in the rest of the setting, is the chanson D’ung aultre amer by Ockeghem. This was important for Josquin, who revered Ockeghem more than anyone. He intended a tribute to him which, even when the liturgy demanded restraint, shows he was equal to any challenge.

La Missa D’ung aultre amer est une autre excentrique dans le corpus de messes de Josquin. Elle est sans doute légèrement antérieure aux deux autres enregistrées ici, mais montre tout autant un côté unique de la technique de Josquin. Ici, il est non seulement compact, mais bref. Cette concision vient d’un style syllabique, en particulier dans le Gloria et le Credo où il condense les textes en les faisant se chevaucher. Le Kyrie, le Sanctus et l’Agnus font preuve d’une plus grande liberté, mais les phrases sont courtes: chose très inhabituelle, le Kyrie est plus long que le Gloria. Ce style vient probablement de la lauda polyphonique pratiquée dans le rite ambrosien de Milan lorsque Josquin y travaillait au cours des années 1480 et qui avait aussi la caractéristique de substituer un motet au Benedictus et au deuxième Hosanna, manquant ici et que remplace Tu solus qui facis.

Par manque d’espace, cette œuvre ne peut donner lieu à une élaboration polyphonique ou au déploiement sonore. Il n’y a ni duos (les trois Agnus, par exemple, sont à la fois très brefs et bien remplis), ni canons, ni voix ajoutées. Pour une fois, l’intérêt est centré sur des accords simples, surtout dans le motet Tu solus qui facis. Les accords simples doivent être plus faciles à écrire que la polyphonie complexe et pourtant, au fil des ans, beaucoup de compositeurs (notamment à l’époque victorienne) ont montré avec quelle facilité ce genre de musique devient prévisible et ennuyeuse. Toutefois, Tu solus qui facis se compose d’accords parfaitement disposés, solennels et sonores. Derrière eux, et en fait derrière une grande partie des détails figurant dans le reste de cette œuvre, il y a la chanson D’ung aultre amer d’Ockeghem. C’était important pour Josquin, qui vénérait Ockeghem plus que quiconque. Il voulait lui rendre un hommage qui, même lorsque la liturgie demandait une certaine retenue, montre son aptitude à dominer tous les enjeux.

Die Missa D’ung aultre amer ist ein weiterer Sonderling in Josquins Korpus von Messvertonungen. Wahrscheinlich entstand sie etwas früher als die anderen beiden hier eingespielten Werke, zeigt jedoch ebenso deutlich eine einzigartige Seite von Josquins Technik auf. Diese Vertonung ist nicht nur kompakt, sondern auch kurz. Die Kürze erklärt sich durch den syllabischen Stil, insbesondere im Gloria und Credo, wo die Texte zusammengeschoben sind, indem sie einander überlappen. Im Kyrie, Sanctus und Agnus wird eine größere Freiheit spürbar, doch sind die Phrasen hier kurz—besonders ungewöhnlich ist, dass das Kyrie länger ausfällt als das Gloria. Dieser Stil rührt wahrscheinlich von der polyphonen Lauda-Strömung innerhalb der ambrosianischen Liturgie Mailands her, wo Josquin während der 1480er Jahre arbeitete. Ein weiteres Charakteristikum dieser Tradition war es, das Benedictus und zweite Osanna mit einer Motette zu ersetzen. Letzteres fehlt hier und stattdessen erklingt Tu solus qui facis.

Die Vertonung hat nicht genügend Platz für polyphone Ausarbeitungen und klangliche Vorführungen. Weder gibt es Duette (alle drei Agnus Deis etwa sind sehr kurz gehalten und vollbesetzt), noch Kanons, noch hinzugefügte Stimmen. Im Mittelpunkt stehen hier ausnahmsweise schlichte Akkorde, insbesondere in der Motette Tu solus qui facis. Man sollte meinen, dass schlichte Akkorde sich einfacher setzen lassen als komplexe Polyphonie, und doch hat sich über die Jahre bei vielen Komponisten (vornehmlich bei viktorianischen Komponisten) gezeigt, wie schnell eine solche Musik ins Vorhersehbare und Langweilige umschlagen kann. Tu solus qui facis hingegen besteht aus perfekt platzierten, feierlichen und klangvollen Akkorden. Hinter ihnen, und auch hinter vielen Details der restlichen Vertonung, steht die Chanson D’ung aultre amer von Ockeghem. Josquin verehrte Ockeghem mehr als alle anderen Musiker, so dass dies einen besonderen Stellenwert einnahm. Er wollte ihm hiermit seinen Tribut zollen—dass ihm das gelang, selbst wo die Liturgie Zurückhaltung forderte, zeigt, dass er jeglichen Herausforderungen gewachsen war.

Merton College Chapel, Oxford, United Kingdom
Produced by Steve C Smith
Engineered by Philip Hobbs
Release date: November 2020
Total duration: 12 minutes 58 seconds

Cover artwork: Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara by Dosso Dossi
De Agostini Picture Library / Bridgeman Images

Missa D'ung aultre amer

The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips (conductor)

Reviews

Introduction