Notes and Editorial Reviews
Musica Nova, with its rich experience performing the ballades and motets of Guillaume de Machaut, set out to rewrite the book on his most famous and emblematic work: the so-called Messe de Nostre Dame. The very elaborate construction of the mass and its strange and subtle harmonies win the admiration of all. But do we really know what its true sound was? Though we cannot be quite sure, our research into the 14th-century theory of musica ficta, led by specialist Gérard Geay, has allowed us to come close, opening up an unheard sound world. In order to perform this music the singers worked from various 14th-century manuscript sources. They used the reading techniques of that era in an attempt to stay as close as possible to the phrasing
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and vocal movement that Machaut would have had in mind. Reading from the manuscript places the singer in a world of long note values with ternary divisions (modus perfectus), which automatically suggests a longer breath and a more spacious performance. Machaut's mass alternates between two styles of composition: the conductus (Gloria and Credo), a 13th-century legacy in which all voices follow the same rhythm, and the isorhythmic motet (Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Ite missa est, and the final Amen in the both the Gloria and Credo), which is specific to the Ars Nova. Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Vos quid admiramini/Gratissima/Contratenor/Gaude gloriosa, motet by Philippe De Vitry
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Period: Medieval
Written: 13th Century; France
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 3 Minutes 5 Secs.
2.
Adesto by Anonymous
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 3 Minutes 10 Secs.
3.
Musicalis sciencia / Sciencie laudabili, motet by Pierre De Bruges
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Period: Renaissance
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 3 Minutes 9 Secs.
4.
Alma polis religio / Axe poli cum artica, motet in 4 voices by Johannes de Porta
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Period: Medieval
Written: circa 1400; France
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 5 Minutes 9 Secs.
5.
Pantheon abluitur / Apollonis eclipsatur / Zodiacum signis lustrantibus, motet by Bernard de Cluny
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 2 Minutes 59 Secs.
6.
Tribum quem by Anonymous
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Period: Medieval
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 2 Minutes 37 Secs.
7.
Messe de Nostre Dame by Guillaume de Machaut
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Period: Medieval
Written: 14th Century; France
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 33 Minutes 48 Secs.
8.
Benedicamus Domino, organum by Anonymous
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Period: Medieval
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 1 Minutes 59 Secs.
9.
Armes, amours/O flour des flours, ballade for 2 voices by Franciscus Andrieu
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Period: Medieval
Written: circa 1380
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 10 Minutes 10 Secs.
10.
Impudenter circumivi/Virtutis laudabilis/Alma, motet by Philippe De Vitry
Performer:
Joseph Rassam (Organ)
Conductor:
Lucien Kandel
Period: Medieval
Written: 13th Century; France
Venue: Abbaye de Royaumont, Asnières-sur-Oise
Length: 3 Minutes 7 Secs.
Sound Samples
Vos quid admiramini / Gratissima
Adesto [Codex Robertsbridge]
Impudenter circuivi / Virtutibus
Musicalis sciencia / Sciencie laudabili
Alma polis religio / Axe poli cum artica
Pantheon abluitur / Apollonis eclipsatur / Zodiacum signis lustrantibus
Tribum [Codex Robertsbridge]
Messe de Nostre Dame: Kyrie I
Messe de Nostre Dame: Christie
Messe de Nostre Dame: Kyrie II-III
Messe de Nostre Dame: Gloria
Messe de Nostre Dame: Credo
Messe de Nostre Dame: Sanctus
Messe de Nostre Dame: Agnus Dei
Messe de Nostre Dame: Ite missa est
Benedicamus Domino [Codex Faenza]
Armes, amours / O flour des flours
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