Customer Reviews

Au Travail Suis / De Plus En Plus

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

--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.

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.