Discography
Behold How Joyful - Clemens non Papa: Mass and Motets:
Like many of even the most prolific and celebrated composers of the sixteenth century, Jacobus Clemens non Papa ('not the Pope') has offered the history books little factual material with which to work. In contrast to the paucity of biographical material, however, many sources of Clemens' music survive. Indeed, he is one of the most widely published musicians of the entire century with fifteen Masses, over two hundred motets, many Dutch psalms and French chansons to his name.
This disc features the Mass Ecce quam bonum , which is based on Clemen's own motet setting of Psalm 133, 'Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is: brethren, to dwell together in unity!'
Apart from that on which the Mass setting is modelled, all of the motets on this disc are in five parts, although their textures are varied. Pascha nostrum sets the text of the Easter Anthem. The Song of Song's motet Veni electa mea is highly characteristic of mid-sixteenth century spirituality, with the eroticism of the Song of Songs harnessed to provide a metaphor for the Church as bride of Christ. Accesserunt ad Jesum introduces Jesus's admonition to the Pharisees concerning the estate of marriage. In Job tonso capite , a highly emotive narration of Job accepting his many trials, Clemen's delivers an immediate approach to word-painting.
The final piece on this disc, Carole, Magnus eras is a secular work: a state motet addressed to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his son, Philip II of Spain. Since the text celebrates the achievements of the Emperor but promises even greater things under his son, it was probably composed at the time of Philip's investiture as Regent of the Low Countries in 1549.
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Thomas Crecquillon: Missa ‘Mort m’a privé’, motets and chansons
The Brabant Ensemble is pleased to announce its first CD release on the Hyperion label, featuring the music of Thomas Crecquillon (c.1505-1557). The centrepiece of the disc is the five-part Mass ‘Mort m’a privé’, based on Crecquillon’s own chanson. As argued in the liner notes by Dr Martin Ham (University of Surrey), the Mass was written in commemoration of the death of the Empress Isabella, wife of the composer’s employer Charles V, in 1539. Also included on the disc are three other chansons by Crecquillon, themselves musically related to the Mass setting, as well as state and liturgical motets.
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Manchicourt: Missa Cuidez vous que Dieu nous faille
The Brabant Ensemble is delighted to announce the release of its third CD, featuring works by Pierre de Manchicourt (c.1510-1564). The CD has already attracted the following review:
“From the ecstatic opening bars of the Regina caeli, which begins the recital, to the more austere grandeur of Manchicourt’s only setting of the Magnificat, with which it closes, there is not a less than thrilling moment on the whole disc. Non-experts will scarcely be aware of the hyper-refined contrapuntal techniques, daring use of dissonance and cross-relations, interspersed with passages of telling homophony; they will simply be swept along by the sheer aural brilliance of Manchicourt’s polyphony.
With only two previous recordings to its name, The Brabant Ensemble has already established itself as perhaps England’s most accomplished interpreter of Renaissance sacred music. Its intelligent phrasing, purity of vocal production and well-judged use of pause and inflexion are simply astonishing. Its vivid presentation of Manchicourt’s shimmering, flamboyant polyphony is as moving as it is intellectually stimulating.”
(International Record Review, April 2007)
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