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Nowell synge we bothe al and som

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Label: Linn

Cat No: CKD591

Barcode: 0691062059121

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Christmas

Release Date: 15th November 2019

About

Gothic Voices’ reputation for the originality of its programming is cemented with its first recording of medieval Christmas music, in which Julian Podger reimagines a fifteenth-century carol evening. Mirroring the modern practice of performing mostly music from the preceding centuries alongside some contemporary repertoire, the programme includes late medieval English carols, chant, mono- and polyphonic songs and motets for the Advent and Christmas season, focusing on Mary, her Annunciation and the birth of Jesus. Larger-scale festive motets and mass movements by English late medieval celebrities John Dunstaple and Leonel Power also feature. The ‘evening’ concludes with a summons to wake up to the significance of Christmas, with the conductus call Resonet, intonet introducing the carols Nowell synge we bothe al and som and Nowell: Owt of your slepe and the great Christmas chant Puer natus est nobis, arranged here into a joyful finale.

This recording has been widely anticipated since a performance of this repertoire in December 2016 was chosen by BBC Music Magazine as its number one unmissable Christmas event.

For over thirty years Gothic Voices has been renowned for the excellence refinement and spirituality of its performances of medieval music. Since the ensemble was founded in 1980 by renowned medievalist Christopher Page, Gothic Voices has produced an award-winning discography of over twenty-five albums. The ground-breaking Hildegard of Bingen recording A feather on the breath of God remains one of the best-selling recordings of pre-classical music ever made. The ensemble has built an impressive reputation for promoting previously unfamiliar music to audiences throughout the world.

“Their authority in this repertoire was obvious, and made for characterful and convincing performances. Close harmonies in the 12th-13th century Verbum Patris Humanatur sounded both ancient and curiously modern, while In Natali Novi Regis was touchingly intimate.” – The York Press

“…with intonation and ensemble of this consistency, it is possible to revel…in sheer sonority…” – Gramophone

Sound/Video

Paused

1

Veni, O sapientia (Anon, ?C15)
2

Angelus ad virginem (Anon, C14)
3

Alma redemptoris mater: As I lay (Anon, C15)
4

Gaude virgo salutata... (Dunstaple)
5

Nowell, nowell, nowell (Anon, C15)
6

Ave regina caelorum (Cooke)
7

In natali novi regis (Anon, C12)
8

Alleluya: A nywe werk is come on honde (Anon, C15)
9

Mervele not, Joseph (Anon, C15)
10

Edi be thu, heven queene (Anon, C13)
11

A sapientia (Gregorian chant)
12

Ave regina caelorum (Frye)
13

Lullay, lullay: Als I lay (Anon, C14)
14

Ecce, quod natura (Anon, C15)
15

Ave rex angelorum (Anon, C15)
16

Gloria (Queldryk)
17

There is no rose of swych virtu (Anon, C15)
18

Benedicte Deo (Anon, C15)
19

Sanctus (Power)
20

Resonut, intonet (Anon, C12)
21

Nowell synge we bothe al and som (Anon, C15)
22

Puer natis est nobis (Gregorian chant)
23

Nowell: Owt of your slepe (Anon, C15)
24

Cantate domino (Gregorian chant)
25

Nowell: Now man is bryghter (Anon, C15)

Europadisc Review

At this time of year there’s a proliferation of Christmas carol services and carol concerts, usually containing a mixture of new or recent works and arrangements with a generous helping of traditional favourites. But how might such an event have sounded six hundred years ago in fifteenth-century England? That’s the brilliant conceit behind a new disc from Gothic Voices, a group renowned for its exploration of early music both sacred and secular from Hildegard of Bingen and Guillaume de Machaut onwards. Adorned by a panel from the vividly-coloured Wilton Diptych (familiar to anyone who’s visited the Sainsbury Wing of London’s National Gallery), this is a glorious collection of works from a period when English music was experiencing its first distinctive flowering. Composers including Leonel Power and John Dunstaple were making waves with a new, florid style of writing that favoured the sweet harmonic thirds and sixths which had hitherto been a scarcity. Their rich soundworld was known on the continent as the contenance angloise (‘English manner’) and was an important influence on such great musical figures as Dufay and Binchois.

It is this fifteenth-century repertoire that dominates the disc, an era when works from earlier times were more of a rarity than newly-composed items. Nevertheless, Gothic Voices happily find room for some jewels from the fourteenth and even twelfth centuries as well as some traditional Gregorian chant to add a liturgical flavour to proceedings. The programme is broadly divided into two parts: Advent, anticipating the coming of Christ as well as the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary from the angel Gabriel, and the exuberant, festive sounds of the feast of Christmas itself.

Proceedings get under way in style with the Advent hymn Veni, O sapientia, sung to a 15th-century French tune well-known from its final verse, ‘Veni, veni Emmanuel’ (‘O come, O come, Emmanuel’), and take on a more jubilant tone with the fourteenth-century Latin carol Angelus ad virginem, with engaging harmonisation from the second verse onwards, and even a chordal drone for the fourth. Works with a Marian theme are plentiful, not least Dunstaple’s splendid quadruple-texted motet Gaude virgo salutata, and there are two nicely contrasting settings of Ave regina caelorum (‘Hail, queen of the heavens’) by John Cooke and Walter Frye. Vernacular works in medieval English include the robustly earthy Nowell, nowell, nowell and the more pensive Mervele not, Joseph.

At the heart of the disc is the haunting fourteenth-century lullaby, Lullay, lullay: Als I lay, a gentle dialogue between Virgin and Child exquisitely sung by mezzo-soprano Catherine King. Other highlights from the Christmas section include the three-voice carols Ther is no rose, the ‘title track’ Nowell synge we both al and som, and the rousing Nowell: Owt of your slepe. A magnificent Sanctus by Power and an animated Gloria by the still earlier Queldryk vividly illustrate the sheer quality and variety of English sacred music of this period. Resonet, intonet, a monophonic conductus from the twelfth century, has a buoyant urgency to it that shows how apparently simply musical means can have a very direct expressive impact.

This marvellously varied programme is rounded off with the joyous carol Nowell: Now man is bryghter, a sentiment the listener will surely agree with by the end of the disc. Whether you’re interested in the early development of a distinctively English musical style or simply want the authentic taste of a medieval Christmas celebration, Gothic Voices’ immensely involving and stylish singing, beautifully recorded in Boxgrove Priory, Chichester, will prove a festive treat. There are excellent notes by tenor Julian Podger (the ensemble’s director), full texts and modern English translations, and handsome presentation. All in all, a uniquely absorbing Christmas disc that really stands out from the crowd.

Reviews

It seems extraordinary that this should be Gothic Voices’ first Christmas-themed album; nevertheless, it has been worth the wait to hear these well-known works performed by this ensemble. ... Their textures are always buoyant: listen for the fourth verse [of Angelus ad virginem], which describes the Virgin’s swollen womb, where they use an atmospheric vocalised drone. ... [Queldryk’s] Gloria in particular is a model of nimble, thrilling performance. Living up to their new tagline, ‘unaccompanied close medieval harmonies’, this album will surely become a firm seasonal favourite. Edward Breen

Gramophone January 2020

[A] superb album ... Gothic Voices sing with such passion that there’s never a hint of dry scholarship. Geoff Brown

The Times 6 December 2019

The glowing blend of tone and fluidity of phrasing in Dunstaple’s ‘Gaude virgo salutata’ is typical of all 25 tracks on the recording. Among these, mezzo-soprano Catherine King’s gently caressing ‘Lullay, lullay: Als I lay’ and the jubilant ‘Nowell: Owt of your slepe’ are obvious highlights, and the sound is excellent. Terry Blain

BBC Music Magazine Christmas 2019