Hoquetus - Medieval European Vocal Music / Hillier, Theatre Of Voices [Import]

Paul Hillier (Artist), Theatre Of Voices (Performer), Ellen Hargis (Performer), Steven Rickards (Performer), Alan Bennett (Performer), Paul Elliott (Performer), Daniel Carberg (Performer), Sumner Thompson (Artist), Michael George (Artist), Christopher Bowers (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Theatre Of Voices, Ellen Hargis, Steven Rickards, Alan Bennett, Paul Elliott, et al.
• Audio CD (May 11, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
• ASIN: B00000IXTP
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,706 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hoquetus: In seculum 'Longum'

2. Hoquetus: In seculum 'Viellatoris'

3. Hoquetus: In Secelum 'Breve'

4. Hoquetus: In seculum 'D'Amiens longum'

5. Hoquetus: Iam nubes dissolvitur-Solem

6. Hoquetus: Entre Adan et Hanikel-Chies bien seans

7. Hoquetus: Je n'amerai I

8. Hoquetus: Je n'amerai II

9. Hoquetus: Ave maris stella (Organ Solo)

10. Hoquetus: Tous corps qui-De souspirant cuer

11. Hoquetus: Musicalis sciencia-Sciencie laudabili

12. Hoquetus: Or sus, vous dormes trop (Organ Solo)

13. Hoquetus: Ave rex gentis Anglorum

14. Hoquetus: Deus tourum militum-De flore martyrum

15. Hoquetus: Ave miles celestis-Ave rex patrone

16. Hoquetus: Beata viscera

17. Hoquetus: Thomas gemma Cantuarie-Thomas cesus in Doveria

18. Hoquetus: Doleo super te-Absolon, fili mi

19. Hoquetus: Epiphaniam domino canamus-Balaam inquit

20. Hoquetus: Campanis cum cymbalis-Honoremus dominam

See all 29 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Ostensibly a study in the art of mostly vocal compositions based on the practice of hocketing, this excursion by Paul Hillier's Theatre of Voices goes well beyond a study of technique. It's a breathtaking glide through ancient music, to be sure, but it's also a fascinating look at how relatively late medievalists such as Guillaume de Machaut advanced musical processes documented in the Bamberg, Montpellier, Faenza, and Ivrea codices as well as in a variety of other collections. Hocketing is the process whereby multiple voices carry multiple parts simultaneously, with one voice extending beneath another, often providing a melodic backbone for improvisation. On Hillier's sonically peerless collection, you get almost ostentatious slipperiness on the low-register vocal in a 14th-century homage to St. Thomas (à Becket), and then you get a 13th-century piece from the Montpellier Codex in which a dizzying pair of upper-register voices sings in hockets while a lower-register chant continues beneath, almost viscerally piling polyphony. Hillier has excelled at what could have been an academic mission, and he's contributed a great deal to making the history of musical development poignantly beautiful. In addition, four organ solos fall into the sequencing of vocal tracks, allowing points of rest for the ear following the multitude of voices and thrilling keyboard examples, to boot. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hocketing, anyone?, February 22, 2001

By 

Matt Benzing "Librarian" (Troy, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hoquetus - Medieval European Vocal Music / Hillier, Theatre Of Voices (Audio CD)

Although this well documented and superbly performed CD is intended as an academic demonstration of the ars antiqua practice of hocketing, it also makes for a nice late evening relaxation piece. The vocal acrobatics are nicely alternated with some atmospheric organ pieces from the same era.