Missa L'Homme Arme / Missa Sine Nomine

Dufay (Artist), Wickham (Artist), Clerks Group (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 12, 2000)
• Label: Cypres
• ASIN: B0000064TE
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,263,455 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Missa 'Cunctorum plasmator summus' (Missa 'L'homme armé') for 4 voices: Kyrie

2. Missa 'Cunctorum plasmator summus' (Missa 'L'homme armé') for 4 voices: Gloria

3. Missa 'Cunctorum plasmator summus' (Missa 'L'homme armé') for 4 voices: Credo

4. Missa 'Cunctorum plasmator summus' (Missa 'L'homme armé') for 4 voices: Sanctus

5. Missa 'Cunctorum plasmator summus' (Missa 'L'homme armé') for 4 voices: Agnus Dei

6. Missa sine nomine, for 3 voices No. 1: Kyrie

7. Missa sine nomine, for 3 voices No. 1: Gloria

8. Missa sine nomine, for 3 voices No. 1: Credo

9. Missa sine nomine, for 3 voices No. 1: Sanctus

10. Missa sine nomine, for 3 voices No. 1: Agnus Dei

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Johannes Tinctoris (ca. 1430-1511), known primarily for his music treatises, was also a skilled composer of sacred music notable for its long, intertwining melodic lines. This first recording devoted entirely to Tinctoris presents his Mass based on the popular L'homme armé tune, along with his starkly beautiful sine nomine (no-name) Mass for three low voices, notable especially for its astonishing low bass part. The more conventionally scored (ATTB) L'homme armé Mass has many moments of wondrously beautiful melody, especially in the duet and trio sections. Edward Wickham's quick tempos don't allow all of that beauty and wonder to unfold, but Tinctoris' complex rhythms are thrillingly executed and the tuning is excellent throughout. This is a fine addition to any early music collection. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful music but too fast!, January 28, 2003

By 

Christopher McKoy (La Canada Flintridge, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Missa L'Homme Arme / Missa Sine Nomine (Audio CD)

Although Johannes Tinctoris' Missa L'Homme Arme is quite good, the real gem on this CD is the Missa Sine Nomine No.1 (Tinctoris composed three Missa Sine Nomine--"mass without name"). It is for three low voices and, as the Amazon.com reviewer notes, the low bass part is amazing. Although not a Requiem Mass or Lamentations, it is the most solemn Renaissance mass I have heard. (If you like 'dark' Renaissance vocal music for mostly low voices, a recording [CD] you will surely enjoy is Marcel Peres' Ensemble Organum's fine recording of Johannes Ockeghem's Requiem Mass on Harmonia Mundi France.)

I have developed something of an obsession with Tinctoris' Missa Sine Nomine No.1 and was delighted when I discovered this CD by Edward Wickham's Clerks' Group. Unfortunately, though the intonation and the singing are impeccable, the tempos are indeed too fast (as the Amazon reviewer also notes). Those (such as myself!) looking for an alternate recording of this piece will have a difficult time: to my knowledge the only other complete recording of the Missa Sine Nomine No.1 is from 1963 and has never been transferred to CD; it is a French recording on LP: "Ensemble Vocal et Instrumental Roger Blanchard" on Les Discophiles Francais and Nonesuch records. The incredible 'Kyrie,' though, was recorded by David Munrow and is the first of the five mass movements on Munrow's highly recommended "Art of the Netherlands" set. Munrow and Blanchard both employ much slower tempos than Wickham and allow the music to sound as somber and moving as it should.

I gave the CD 4 stars largely because it is the only complete recording available on CD of the Missa Sine Nomine No.1 and I am very pleased that someone finally chose to record it again. If there were other better recordings available, I would probably have given it only 3 stars.

If anyone is aware of another recording (CD, LP, tape, or whatever!) of Tinctoris' Sine Nomine No.1, please post a review with the information--thanks!