Ockeghem: Missa de plus en plus & chansons / Orlando Consort

On this CD:

1. Missa "De plus en plus", for 4 voices
Composed by Johannes Ockeghem

2. Presque transi, chanson for 3 voices
Composed by Johannes Ockeghem

3. Prenez sur moi, chanson for 3 voices
Composed by Johannes Ockeghem

4. Alius discantus super "O rosa bella", for 2 voices (1 part by Ockeghem, 1 part by Giustiniani)
Composed by Johannes Ockeghem

5. Aultre Venus estes, chanson for 3 voices
Composed by Johannes Ockeghem

6. S'elle m'amera/Petite camusette, chanson for 4 voices
Composed by Johannes Ockeghem

7. Tant fuz gentement resjouy, chanson for 3 voices
Composed by Johannes Ockeghem

8. Mort, tu as navré/Miserere, motet-chanson for 4 voices
Composed by Johannes Ockeghem

Tracks:

De Plus En Plus
Missa De Plus En Plus: Kyrie
Missa De Plus En Plus: Gloria
Missa De Plus En Plus: Credo
Missa De Plus En Plus: Sanctus & Benedictus
Missa De Plus En Plus: Agnus Dei I, II & III
Au Travail Suis
Missa Au Travail Suis: Kyrie
Missa Au Travail Suis: Gloria
Missa Au Travail Suis: Credo
Missa Au Travail Suis: Sanctus & Benedictus
Missa Au Travail Suis: Agnus Dei I, II & III

Customer Reviews:

Springs ever and anew..........2004-07-28

--Johannes Ockeghem--
Ockeghem (1425 - 1497) was a gread Flemish contrapuntist and teacher. He was probably a pupil of Binchois (included here is one of his chansons); he spent time as a cathedral chorister and chaplain, including composer and chaplain to three successive kings of France. Ockeghem influenced other composers, including Josquin des Pres and later composers influenced by the great Franco-Flemish school, of which Ockeghem was the the leader of the second generation. Ockeghem wrote at least 16 masses, 9 motets (including a massive 36-part canon-motet), 20 chansons and a canon.

--Missa De plus en plus--
This mass draws upon the inspiration of the chanson by Ockeghem's teacher, Binchois, of the same name. There are full and reduced voice sections, the full voice sections carrying the chanson melody. This mass is a very full and grand composition. It has a typical scoring range - Alto, High Tenor, Low Tenor, and Bass. There are some very virtuoso periods in this mass, often surprising.

--Missa Au travail suis--
This mass is less grand in scale, almost more of a chamber-music tone, full of stillness and gentleness. It too is based upon a chanson included on the disc, written by Barbingant or Ockeghem himself. The scoring here is atypical, for Soprano, Alto, Bass and Bass (three ranges). The contrast between this mass and the other included here on this disc shows a range of creativity on Ockeghem's part.

--Liner Notes--
Being internationally acclaimed, the Tallis Scholars' CDs typically present their commentary and texts in English, French, German and Italian (together with any Latin texts); this disc, however, only includes the English (and English translation of the songs and mass). The cover art also typically represents visual arts contemporary with the compositions - here the piece is 'Donna nuda allo specchio' by Giovanni Bellini, an artist of the generation of Johannes Ockeghem. In this, the Tallis Scholars have begun to list the singers; this was not true of their early recordings, and is a much welcomed addition.

--The Tallis Scholars--
The Tallis Scholars, a favourite group of mine since the first time I heard them decades ago, are a group dedicated to the performance and preservation of the best of this type of music. A choral group of exceptional ability, I have been privileged to see them many times in public, and at almost every performance, their singing seems almost like a spiritual epiphany for me, one that defies explanation in words. Directed by Peter Phillips, the group consists of a small number of male and female singers who have trained themselves well to their task.

Their recordings are of a consistent quality that deserve more than five stars; this particular disc of pieces by Johannes Ockeghem and others is worthy of a place on the shelf of anyone who loves choral music, liturgical music or Gregorian chant, classical music generally, or religious music. It is truly special. The original recording was made in 1997 in the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Salle, Norfolk, one of their favourite recording sites. It was done in honour of the 500th anniversary of Ockeghem's death.

Ockeghem: Missa "De plus en plus"; Chansons

Average customer rating:

A truly remarkable album

Ockeghem: Missa "De plus en plus"; Chansons

Manufacturer: Archiv Produktion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Chansons | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Pomerium: Musical Book of Hours
John Dunstable: Motets / Hilliard Ensemble
Josquin Desprez: Motets & Chansons
Le Manuscrit Du Puy - Les Premieres Polyphonies Francaises
Perotin / The Hilliard Ensemble

ASIN: B00006L3IC
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Customer Reviews:

A truly remarkable album.......2004-01-05

This long neglected cd is one of the favorites in my Renaissance collection.
It comprises two parts: the mass, with the traditional pieces (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus) and six profane love songs in Old French and Italian.

The singers are the American (?) Orlando Consort, four men with outstanding voices.

What makes this recording truly remarkable is the second part, in which the countertenors (male altos) play a prominent role.
The main singing technique is the highly complex and refined canon: while the countertenor sings the couplets, the other singers simultaneously sing the refrain, weaving together a tapestry of sound that is truly enthralling in its melodic richness and rhythm.

The highlight of this recording is the last piece, a Great Lament for the death of Ockeghem's teacher: Burgundian composer Jean Binchois. This song, which belongs more to the Middle Ages than the Renaissance in character, is an absolute masterwork which makes Desprez's own lament for the death of Ockeghem sound mediocre indeed. It is both immensely sorrowful and immensely dignified, a combination of sentiments we rarely, if ever, encounter in our own age, in which people tend to express their grief in a most uncivilized way.

The only defect that I could find in this marvelous performance is the strange pronunciation of the Latin pieces. The oo sound of say, "agnus" is pronounced like an i in English "limp". My guess is that this is a reconstruction of the French pronunciation of ecclesiatical Latin at the time but I could find no confirmation in the accompanying booklet.

Tracks:

Des Prez: Motet-Praeter rerum seriem - Gabrieli Consort & Players/Paul McCreesh
Gregorian chant: Introit - Gabrieli Consort & Players/Paul McCreesh
Mass 'Hodie Christus natus est': Sanctus - Gabrieli Consort & Players/Paul McCreesh
Mass 'Hodie Christus natus est': Agnus dei - Gabrieli Consort & Players/Paul McCreesh
O magnum mysterium - Gabrieli Consort & Players/Paul McCreesh
Motet-Nuper rosarum flores - Pomerium/Alexander Blachly
Mass 'De plus en plus': Kyrie - Orlando Consort
Mass 'De plus en plus': Sanctus - Orlando Consort
Mass for St. Anthony of Padua: Kyrie - Pomerium/Alexander Blachly
Mass for St. Anthony of Padua: Agnus Dei - Pomerium/Alexander Blachly
Domine Deus meus a 6 - Gabrieli Consort & Players/Paul McCreesh
Mass 'In illo tempore': Sanctus - Regensburger Domspatzen/Hanns-Martin Schneidt
Miserere - Chor of Westminster Abbey/Simon Preston

Johannes Ockeghem: Missa De plus en plus; Missa Fors seulement

Average customer rating:

spiritual depth finally reaches 20th century ears!

Johannes Ockeghem: Missa De plus en plus; Missa Fors seulement

Manufacturer: Lyrichord Discs Inc.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Ockeghem: The Two Three-Voice Masses

ASIN: B0000022BO
Release Date: 1997-09-16

Tracks:

Missa De Plus En Plus: Kyrie
Missa De Plus En Plus: Gloria
Missa De Plus En Plus: Credo
Missa De Plus En Plus: Sanctus
Missa De Plus En Plus: Agnus Dei
Missa Fors Seulement: Kyrie
Missa Fors Seulement: Gloria
Missa Fors Seulement: Credo

Customer Reviews:

spiritual depth finally reaches 20th century ears!.......1998-10-29

There are a lot of early renaissance CDs coming out to the market these days, but by and large they lack directional focus. This disc, however, clearly shows that someone is more interested in just pretty sounding voices. It is one of the few CDs in which achieving a compelling interpretation is obviously a great concern to the members of the group. This performance brings out a spiritual depth and emotion that reminds me of some of the dark canvasses of Rembrandt. A must have.

Ockeghem: Missa de plus en plus; 5 Motets

Average customer rating:

Beautiful sacred music, brilliantly performed
Idiomatic

Ockeghem: Missa de plus en plus; 5 Motets

Manufacturer: Gaudeamus
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Rondos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Ockeghem: Missa L'homme Arme, Missa Sine Nomine a3
Ockeghem: Missa Au Travail Suis, Missa Sine Nomine a5
Jacob Obrecht: Missa Malheur Me Bat / Laudes Christo / Johannes Martini: Magnificat Tertii Toni / Ave Maris Stella / O Beate Sebastiane / Salve Regina - The Clerks' Group
Jacob Obrecht: Missa Sub Tuum Praesidium; Benedictus in laude; Salve Regina
Ockeghem: Missa Ecce Ancilla Domini

ASIN: B0000030OW
Release Date: 1996-11-19

Tracks:

Salve Regina
Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Kyrie
Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Gloria
Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Credo
Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Sanctus/Benedictus
Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Agnus Dei
De Plus En Plus
Credo 'De Village'
Osculetur Me
Gaude Maria

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful sacred music, brilliantly performed.......2005-12-27

Anyone intrigued by sacred vocal music of the early Renaissance - particularly the works of Guillaume Dufay (c. 1397-1474) and Josquin Desprez (c. 1450-1521) - would do well to explore this CD. Though not as well-known today as Dufay and Josquin, Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1410-1497) represented an essential stylistic link between those two composers. He extended imitative phrases beyond the short phrases employed by Dufay, but was almost too clever in doing so: Ockeghem integrated canons so well into his polyphony that they escaped listeners' ears. Josquin's works brought imitation to the fore, thereby capturing most of the credit for the technique known as "pervasive imitation." Josquin himself acknowledged Ockeghem's importance, commemorating his predecessor in the lament "La déploration de Jehan Ockegham."

The Clerks' Group endeavors to restore Ockeghem's reputation through their series of Ockeghem discs. This CD presents not only Ockeghem's "Missa de plus en plus," but also five motets by Ockeghem and other composers of the period. Works by Matthaeus Pipelare and Jacques Barbireau are performed, as well as "Plus en plus," the motet by Gilles Binchois (a contemporary of Dufay) on which Ockeghem based his Mass.

Dufay pioneered the technique of basing the Mass Ordinary on a pre-existing tenor (or "cantus firmus") from a secular source (as opposed to a Church-approved plainsong chant) with his "Missa se la face ay pale." The "cantus firmus" Mass dominated mid-15th century sacred music; and thus strongly influenced Ockeghem's works. Ockeghem also masters Dufay's technique of alternating different pairs of voices with full 4-part polyphony, to achieve contrasting textures. Ockeghem's music comes across as a gentler, smoother interpretation of Dufay's style, with the downward expansion of the lowest (bassus) voice representing Ockeghem's most readily apparent innovation.

The Clerks' Group performances excel, as do the production values. This is beautiful sacred music, brilliantly performed. I don't find "Missa de plus en plus" quite as impressive as Ockeghem's tour de force, "Missa Prolationum," but it's a remarkable achievement nonetheless.

The liner notes lament that modern critics "worship and canonise (Josquin) only by virtue of (their) total neglect of (Ockeghem)." If the rest of the Clerks' Group's Ockeghem series is as impressive as "Missa de plus en plus; 5 Motets," they will have gone a long way to right this perceived wrong.

Idiomatic.......2000-10-09

The Clerks' Group have earned their place in the early music hall of fame chiefly for their recordings of Ockeghem. No other group have been as consistently compelling in this repertory. Unlike the more conventional choirs, the Clerks' Group pay a lot of attention to the local flavor of polyphonic music. When it comes to performing Ockeghem, whose stylistic writing includes many local conventions, the ability to render local details accurately makes the difference between revelatory and mediocre. This disc is a special delight because of the beauty and relative accessibility of Missa De Plus en Plus, which forms the bulk of this recording. De Plus en Plus was one of Ockeghem's earlier masses. It alternates two- and four-part sections, achieving an almost hypnotic tide-like effect. The original De Plus en Plus tune is included for comparison (the tenor line from the original tune became the cantus firmus for the Mass). Of the fillers, Matthaeus Pipelare's Salve Regina is a gem. The final motet, Gaude Maria, is probably not by Ockeghem, but it is worthy to appear alongside the known Ockeghem's works. The group's singing is well-nigh flawless throughout. -- gggimpy@yahoo.com

Ockeghem: Missa de plus en plus & chansons / Orlando Consort

Average customer rating:

A stunning disc!!
Wonderful cd!

Ockeghem: Missa de plus en plus & chansons / Orlando Consort
Johannes Ockeghem , Orlando Consort , Charles Daniels , Donald Greig , Robert Harre-Jones , Orlando Gibbons Viola Ensemble , and Angus Smith
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Chansons | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000057FU
Release Date: 1997-05-13

Tracks:

Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Kyrie
Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Gloria
Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Credo
Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Sanctus
Missa 'De Plus En Plus': Agnus Dei
Chansons: Presque Transi
Chansons: Prenez Sur Moi Vostre Exemple Amoureux
Chansons: O Rosa Bella
Chansons: Aultre Venus Estes Sans Faille
Chansons: S'elle M'Amera Je Ne Scay
Chansons: Tant Fuz Gentement Resjouy
Chansons: Mort Tu As Navre De Ton Dart

Customer Reviews:

A stunning disc!!.......2003-11-08

The music is stunning, the singing is stunning as well. I have played this cd over and over for the last year.
The mass is an intricate and fascinating piece of music.
The chansons is also vey good but different. Some of the joyous and the last one about death is so moving, sombre and beatiful.
I have this cd in a new midprice version DG 471 727-2
To me this is an desert island disc, no more no less!

Wonderful cd!.......2001-05-01

I only sompared this recording of De Plus En Plus to the one by The Tallis Scholars. I prefer this one greatly. I think that the singing on this cd is some of the best choral singing which I have ever heard, period!

Johannes Ockeghem: Au travail suis; De plus en plus

Average customer rating:

Good Standard Renaissaince Faire.

Johannes Ockeghem: Au travail suis; De plus en plus

Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Rondos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Chansons | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Renaissance (c.1450-1600) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000001I5H
Release Date: 1997-02-11

Tracks:

Chanson: De plus en plus
Missa De Plus en Plus: Kyrie
Missa De Plus en Plus: Gloria
Missa De Plus en Plus: Credo
Missa De Plus en Plus: Sanctus & Benedictus
Missa De Plus en Plus: Agnus Dei I, II & III
Chanson: Au travail suis
Missa Au travail suis: Kyrie
Missa Au travail suis: Gloria
Missa Au travail suis: Credo
Missa Au travail suis: Sanctus & Benedictus
Missa Au travail suis: Agnus Dei I, II & III

Amazon.com

The Tallis Scholars' exemplary contribution to the Ockeghem 500th anniversary commemoration in 1997 includes two four-voice Masses and the three-voice secular songs on which they are based. The first item on the disc, De plus en plus (written by Ockeghem's contemporary Binchois) gets a livelier performance than 14th-century chansons typically do; the Mass (which shares only a tenor melody with the chanson) is more subdued and gets an appropriately reverent reading. Au travail suis is one of Ockeghem's most beautiful secular works; its haunting opening phrase begins each movement of the Mass. Phillips and his singers give both works clear and convincing performances. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

Good Standard Renaissaince Faire........2006-11-03

Johannes Ockeghem's 'Au travail suis' plus material from Gilles de Bins dit Binchois and Barbingant (?) by the Tallis Scholars is a very good, well executed series of Renaissance liturgical pieces. I find, however, that it is simply not quite as interesting as the Tallis Scholars' performance of Jacob Obricht's 'Missa Maria Zart'. The latter recording gains from being a bit longer than the Ockeghem offering, and also for being the recording of a single Mass, with all the usual five parts, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus & Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. The Ockeghem recording offers two different passes with these five parts, but neither seem to stand out quite so well as the Obrecht work or the later Palestrina masses.

I will suggest that the very nicest thing about the Ockeghem masses is that they are short, and therefore much less challanging if one is interested in using these pieces in an actual liturgy or as a part of a longer performance.