Search - Jacob Obrecht, Johannes Martini, The Clerks' Group :: Jacob Obrecht: Missa Malheur Me Bat / Laudes Christo / Johannes Martini: Magnificat Tertii Toni / Ave Maris Stella / O Beate Sebastiane / Salve Regina - The Clerks' Group

Stunningly Beautiful Polyphony

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 10/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jacob Obrecht (c. 1457/58 - 1505): Motet "Laudes Christo" and Missa "Malheur me bat"; Johannes Martini (c. 1440 - 1497/98): Magnificat Terti Toni; Ave Maris Stella; O Beate Sebastiane; Salve Regina. Performed by The Clerks Group (Carys Lane, Rebecca Outram, Lucy Ballard, William Missin, Stephen Harrold, Matthew Vine, Edward Wickham, Jonathan Arnold). Recorded in February 1997 at St. Andrew's Church, West Wratting (England). Released in 1998 as ASV Gaudeamus GAU 171. Total playing time: 68'26".



Stunningly beautiful polyphony! My attention was first drawn to this disc shortly after it appeared, when it was given an excellent rating in the July 1998 edition of the short-lived German classical music magazine "Klassik heute". Critic Eva Pintér spoke of the "intelligence of motive formulation", "transparency of articulation" and "a way of shaping the music which finds the best possible balance between expressivity and decently balanced moments, successfully avoiding the dangers of forced liveliness and pseudo-objectivity." Let me translate that into plain English: This is glorious music, stunningly interpreted and brilliantly recorded! Edward Wickham seems to have found an ideal way of presenting this repertoire, using only two singers per voice and placing them in four groups across the breadth of the auditorium. As the engineering is excellent, this enables the listener to follow all the strands of the polyphony without ever having the feeling that it falls apart. And the voices seem to fit each other so perfectly, that I, at least, never for a moment questioned anything that happened here (although I found listening in front of the loudspeakers was even more enjoyable than on headphones, where occasionally the sopranos seemed to dominate a little). The booklet notes by Rob C. Wegman give a good summary of why it is worth listening to this music. Obrecht has often been maligned as a conservative, but in fact his music was probably at the cutting edge of musical development around 1490. Johannes Martini was active, like Obrecht, at the court of Ferrara during the 1490's, and this disc served to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his death. As Wegman points out, he may be considered a minor figure, but his music nonetheless bears witness to great taste and delicacy. I could almost kick myself for allowing almost ten years to pass before I got around to buying this. Classical record companies, please note: Good reviews can lead to sales after many years!"

Another Triumph from the Clerks' Group

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 05/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The previous reviewer has offered a good summary of this disk's contents. I merely wish to note that the Clerk's Group has also released a CD of Josquin Desprez's Missa Malheur Me Bat - same text of course and based on the same chanson, but with strikingly different musical organization. I've recently reviewed that performance. Comparing the two masses, sung by the same superb singers, might be illuminating.



Johannes Martini, despite his name, was a German or Fleming and the "leader" of the Capilla Alta (loud band) in the music-loving court of Ferrara. His motets tend to be more exuberant than polished, but he's a worthy match-up on a CD with Obrecht, who was both exuberant and polished."