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Cipriano de Rore - Missa Doulce memoire, Missa a note negre

£13.60

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Label: Hyperion

Cat No: CDA67913

Barcode: 0034571179131

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Release Date: 29th July 2013

Works

Rore, Cipriano de

Fratres: Scitote
Illuxit nunc sacra dies
Missa Doulce memoire
Missa a note negre
O altitudo divitiarum

Artists

Brabant Ensemble

Conductor

Stephen Rice

Works

Rore, Cipriano de

Fratres: Scitote
Illuxit nunc sacra dies
Missa Doulce memoire
Missa a note negre
O altitudo divitiarum

Artists

Brabant Ensemble

Conductor

Stephen Rice

About

The Brabant Ensemble continue their investigation into unknown jewels of the Low Countries Renaissance, researched by their director Stephen Rice and recorded with equal amounts of passion and erudition by the young singers of the group.

Cipriano de Rore was, and is principally known as, a madrigal composer, and, as Stephen Rice writes, ‘blended the contrapuntal complexity of Low Countries polyphonic style with Italian poetic texts to create a newly expressive vernacular genre’.

This recording represents something of a new departure in presenting some of the least well-known aspects of the output of a composer who is justly famous in other fields.

The album contains two Mass settings based on French chansons, Missa a note negre on a composition by Rore himself, and Missa Doulce mémoire, which takes one of the sixteenth century’s greatest hits, by Pierre Regnault dit Sandrin (c1490–after 1560) as its inspiration.

Also included are three motets. Fratres: Scitote is apparently a unique instance of composition to its text: St Paul here tells the story of the Last Supper, in which Jesus takes bread, blesses and distributes it, and thereby institutes the ritual of Holy Communion.

Sound/Video

Paused

1

Missa Doulce memoire - Kyrie
2

Missa Doulce memoire - Gloria
3

Missa Doulce memoire - Credo
4

Missa Doulce memoire - Sanctus and Benedictus
5

Missa Doulce memoire - Agnus Dei
6

O altitudo divitiarum
7

Fratres: Scitote
8

Illuxit nunc sacra dies
9

Missa a note negre - Kyrie
10

Missa a note negre - Gloria
11

Missa a note negre - Credo
12

Missa a note negre - Sanctus and Benedictus
13

Missa a note negre - Agnus Dei

Europadisc Review

A native of the Low Countries who spent his entire career in Italy, Cipriano de Rore (c1515–1565) is best remembered by posterity as a composer of madrigals – more than a hundred in total – on which his posthumous reputation was built. They were hugely important in shaping the late-sixteenth-century Italian genre, influencing such later composers as Marenzio and Monteverdi; indeed, de Rore was frequently referred to by his contemporaries as ‘il divino Cipriano’. He composed other secular works too, including chansons and settings of classically-leaning Latin texts, and this large output of secular music – much of it progressive and groundbreaking – has overshadowed his more conservatively conceived sacred music. Yet the conservatism of the latter is based on impeccable pedigree, not least the music of Josquin; beautifully crafted, it certainly deserves to be better known and more widely performed.

In the event, this latest Hyperion disc from the Brabant Ensemble (specialists in the vocal music of the sixteenth century) could hardly serve de Rore’s sacred output better. It includes two of his Mass settings, each based on the music of a pre-existing secular chanson, as well as three of de Rore’s sacred motets. None of this music is well-known, yet it is full of musical riches.

The Missa Doulce mémoire takes as its point of departure one of the century’s greatest hits, Sandrin’s chanson Doulce mémoire (Sweet memory consummated in such joy), whose opening motif of a descending diminished fourth pervades the musical textures. Yet it is the sheer variety of textures and moods that de Rore conjures from this seed that really impresses here, from the introspective Kyrie, through the lively Gloria to the delicately touching Agnus Dei. Using pre-existing material as the basis for a Mass setting not only served as a unifying device, but also challenged the composer’s abilities to create music of technical and expressive diversity. In this, de Rore triumphantly succeeds, as do the Brabant Ensemble under director Stephen Rice in performances of exquisite poise and sensitivity to the text.

The Missa a note negre is based on a chanson by de Rore himself, Tout ce qu’on peut en elle voir (All that one can see in her), and its title refers to the mid-century sub-genre of madrigals which used predominantly shorter note values (‘black noteheads’). This is once again music of heart-stopping beauty, and within the basic five-part conception it employs range of textures to bring alive the Mass text itself.

Between the two Mass settings, the Brabants place three sacred motets. The first two set words of St Paul: O altitudo divitiarum is a meditation on the divinity and wisdom of God, its imitative textures and slow-moving style, rich with suspensions, suiting perfectly the elevated concerns of the text. The wonderfully mellifluous Fratres: Scitote is something of a rarity, being the only known musical setting of these words which tell the story of the Last Supper and the institution of the ritual of Holy Communion. The third motet, Illuxit nunc sacra dies, is a shorter and more exuberant piece celebrating the joy of the Nativity. All three works are real musical pearls, and it’s marvellous to have such fine and responsive recordings of them.

All the performances here are superbly sung and shaped, and the acoustic of St Michael and All Angels, Summertown (Oxford) provides a perfect and warmly atmospheric acoustic for the Brabant Ensemble’s expertly blended, youthful tones. There are detailed notes by Stephen Rice himself, and full texts with English translations. This is an important release of lesser-known works by one of the greatest sixteenth-century composers, and another must-have in the Brabants’ growing discography.