Guillaume de machaut motets the hilliard ensemble torrent

Motets the hilliard ensemble on allmusic 2004 the motets of. Machaut is one of the earliest composers on whom substantial biographical information is available, and daniel leechwilkinson called him the last great. He was famous not only as a musician but also as a poet. In the early 20s he entered the service of john, duke of luxembourg and king of bohemia, who secured for machaut various ecclesiastical posts, documented in. Motets et chansons the hilliard ensemble emi reflexe. Machauts chansons i recommend orlando consorts machaut.

Machaut texts and english translations by colleen donagher taken from. Certainly the space one hears, tonally, around the voices themselves serves to heighten mood, and to emphasise the harmonies and layering again. Among his compositions were a number of narrative poems dits that chronicled his relationship with some of the most illustrious nobles of his day, nobles who in turn commissioned the sumptuous manuscripts whose survival ensured machauts posthumous fame. Cd, album ecm new series, ecm new series, ecm records, ecm records. Het is dat het praktisch onmogelijk is, maar anders zou je zeggen dat het hilliard. Discover more music, concerts, videos, and pictures with the largest catalogue online at. His musical works include examples of most of the forms that were current in his time, and show him as a composer of mingled conservative and progressive tendencies. This group, with its seamless legatos, impeccably executed phrasing, perfect blend, and beguiling vocal quality always has epitomized ensemble performance, and these singersfive this timedo it again here in a ravishing collection of 18 machaut motets that at once incorporate the emotions identified with love, longing, passion, rejection. The hilliard ensemble used a new edition of the motets by nicky losseff, who also wrote the fourpage essay machaut and the language of pain. Even casual listeners will notice that each of the three lines of music has its own text one rapid and wordy, one moderate in speed, and one just a few words long.

A purely vocal performance of this material is, of course, as justifiable as any other performance practice we can surmise for this fourteenth century music. He worked for several lords, ladies, adventurers and conquerors, as well as pope benedict xii. You get the feeling that the countertenors are sometimes maybe a little bit too weighty in the mix compared to the tenors and baritone, but then evening it. This is not surprising, for to build newlywritten polyphony on a foundation of plainsong was not only a common compositional process, it reflects the general.

The hilliard sing 18 of the 23 motets by machaut that survive, in the order that the composer himself determined more. The numbering scheme, from the classic edition of machauts works by leo schrade, does not represent chronology, since few of machauts works can be reliably dated since many titles are merely the first lines of the texts used, in different sources individual pieces may be. Worldfamous english a cappella quartet, the hilliard ensemble, gave its first. So i am dubious about the supposed date of the early 50s my guess is that someone transferred a 70sera lp to reeltoreel tape, that got stretched out in a couple of places and slowed down considerably in the digitization process. Music profile for the hilliard ensemble, formed 1974. It bears the seal of an epoch, the 14th century, as well as that of a man who was a poet, a diplomat, a canon and a composer. New editions of the motets by nicky losseff from the machaut manuscript a, paris, biblioteque nationale, ms fonds francais 1584. It is probably the first devoted to machaut s motets, containing no fewer than 18 of the 23 that survive. Machaut utilises opportunities presented by polyphony better than anyone else of his time.

We have decided to launch ourselves into the adventure of recording it in its. They also performed three pieces by guillaume dufay. Free guitar sheet music machaut, guillaume quant je. It is certainly the first to present them in the order in which. Patronised by the ruling families of france, bohemia, and navarre, he bequeathed a large legacy of lyric poems, several lengthy narrative dits, and an unparalleled corpus of monophonic and polyphonic songs, motets, and a mass ordinary setting. In the service of king john of bohemia he traveled through europe on chivalric expeditions. On another program ensemble musica nova sing all 23 motets, but three are not sung as written and others are accompanied by instruments. It is probably the first devoted to machauts motets, containing no fewer than 18 of the 23 that survive. The motet was preserved in the transition from medieval to renaissance music, but the character of the composition was entirely changed.

He is regarded by many musicologists as the greatest and most important composer of the 14th century. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The hilliard sing 18 of the 23 motets by machaut that survive, in the order that the composer himself determined more than 600 years ago. When autoplay is enabled, a suggested video will automatically play. Yet we can hear four other motets from their collection. Guillaume dufay was a transitional figure in this regard. With his prolific output of motets and songs, machaut was the single most important figure of the french ars nova. The hilliard ensemble sang 18 of the 23 motets, unaccompanied. The hilliard ensemble seems to want to treat these secular machaut motets, whose lyrics all involve courtly love themes, as sacred music. Today his fourvoice mass of notre dame is a textbook example for medieval counterpoint, and has served sufficiently to maintain his reputation across shifts in fashion. While it grew out of the medieval isorhythmic motet, the renaissance composers of the motet generally abandoned the use of a repeated figure as a cantus firmus.