Josquin Desprez: Motets & Chansons

Josquin Desprez (Artist), Paul Hillier (Artist), The Hilliard Ensemble (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 21, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B000002SSH
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,312 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #34 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Chansons

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A glory of Josquin, December 19, 1999

By 

"hcf" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Josquin Desprez: Motets & Chansons (Audio CD)

This is, without doubt, one of the best Hilliard recordings (my other nominations for the best Hilliard recordings are: Dunstable Motets, Virgin Veritas 5 61342 2, and Ockeghem Missa Prolationum, Virgin Veritas 5 61484 2). Buy these precious Virgin Veritas reissues fast, because they go out of print without warning. Made almost 20 years ago, this Josquin recording reflects what was, in my view, the golden age of the Hilliard. The cast was still featuring the amazing high tenor Paul Elliott whose voice is such a delight, especially in the florid line in Veni Sancte Spiritu. David James, joined by the group's frequent guest Ashley Stafford, is in top form. Even the harshest detractors would not claim that James sounds shrill or abrasive in this recording. Back when this recording was made, the one-voice-per-part approach was still a novelty. The fact that the Hilliard sang this repertory with only 8 singers (in some pieces only 4) elicited a few surprised comments when the recording first came out. Now, of course, such small forces are perfectly acceptable, if not expected, in polyphonic works. We owe this new attitude, as well as the greater attention to medieval repertory in general, to groundbreaking groups such as the Hilliard. This recording presents four fairly large motets, the most famous of which is Ave Maria. The rest are secular pieces. The Hilliards vocalize all parts even though instrumental continuo was probably acceptable in Josquin's times (e.g., David Munrow recorded some of these songs with recorders, viols and lutes). Two of these secular pieces deserve a special mention. One is Milles Regretz, one of the most popular melodies of the middle ages, serving as a plainchant backbone in numerous masses. The other is Nymphes de Bois, the heart-rending lament on the death of Ockeghem. The text by poet Molinet lists among the mourners several of Ockeghem's pupils and admirers, including Josquin himself. The moment in which the voices call out the names of the mourners in descending echoing steps is indescribably beautiful. The music incorporates as tribute two lines of Ockeghem's Requiem. The effect is stunning. Josquin could not have hoped for a better performance.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scrumptious, June 11, 2000

By 

Guy Cutting - See all my reviews

This review is from: Josquin Desprez: Motets & Chansons (Audio CD)

Josquin predated some of the other Renaissance masters (Palestrina, Victoria, Tallis, etc.) by 100 years or more. As a result, his compositional range embraces both the medieval and Renaissance idioms. His pieces represent a vast range of styles. The pieces recorded here are no exception. Josquin's Ave Maria is, at least in my opinion, a quintessential piece of Renaissance music and a perfect Marian motet. All sorts of technical skill is evident - it is a masterpiece of imitative polyphony. But to speak about it in those terms does it injustice, for it is one of the most serenely beautiful pieces of music ever composed. Josquin gives the text a perfect reading - matching its lyricism with beautiful musical lines and stunning harmonies. This piece alone is worth the price of the disc. The other motets are wonderful as well. De profundis clamavi, sung in a low register, begins with descending motives and a dark minor tonality which denote the despair conveyed by the text. Again, the other pieces are similiary fine, but I don't have the space to talk about them all individually. I'm not nearly as familiar with Josquin's secular music, but the madrigals on this recording are of a similiar quality. Emotion ranges from heartbreak to exuberance and it is all effectively conveyed. If you read my other reviews on Amazon.com, you'll know that the Hilliard Ensemble is one of my favorite groups, and this recording shows why. As I always say, they are technically amazing - tone, balance, dynamics, and the rest are superb. Their interpretive choices are always sound. They manage to convey the sheer wonder of Ave Maria, the depth of emotion in De profundis clamavi, and the humor of El grillo all in the same sweep. Their choice of tempo is excellent - slow and relaxed in Ave Maria, quicker in the motets (Ave Maria is as slow as I've heard it, but it's perfect - they give the music a chance to blossom and flow). This recording really is a must - unfortunately Vergin Veritas is one of the most unreliable early music labels. They put wonderful music to disc that can't be found anywhere else, but it is hardly ever available; I can't even count the number of recordings that I would kill to get but which are out of stock by the label. All that to say this: buy this recording while you can. You can't go wrong...

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Technically Perfect Pure Josquin, But A Bit Dry and Academic, January 3, 2001

By 

Dr. Christopher Coleman (HONG KONG) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Josquin Desprez: Motets & Chansons (Audio CD)

I can't disagree with any of the other critics who have praised the music on this disc. Josquin is a superb composer who wrote deeply moving music with a wide range of emotional expression. The Hilliard Ensemble do sing beautifully--intonation is impeccable throughout, which is very difficult to do with such vibrato-less pure tone. And this is certainly an historically informed performance reflective of the best academic thought (to my knowledge) in the 80's, with a single male singer on each part. But it strikes me as a rather passionless performance, I'm sorry to say, as though the technical perfection came at the cost of emotional expression. I don't find that the dynamics and the tempo are excellent, as one of the other writers said--in fact I find them quite inappropriately reserved on many of the works. Absalom, Fili Mi is in my opinion one of the most heart-rending pieces of music ever written; yet here it scarcely engages me at all. Not that an overblown Romantic interpretation is appropriate, but I find it impossible to believe that the poetry Josquin set, which is so full of life in all its manifestations--love, lust, grief, the divine--would not be performed in a way which brought this out. These pieces are gorgeous, and there are better performances out there. In addition, the CD seems a bit scanty in terms of quantity. I'd like to recommend the Ensemble Janequin's CD Josquin Desprez: Adieu mes Amours, etc, which is less technically perfect (in particular, the Hilliard Ensemble's intonation is more consistently correct) but much more engaging.