Search - Johannes Ockeghem, Pierre de la Rue, Antoine Brumel :: Ockeghem: Requiem; Missa Fors Seulement

Superlative

hcf | 12/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This marvelous CD canvasses two great examples of Ockeghem's genius: Missa Fors Seulement (recorded here for the first time! ), a texturally cohesive, deeply reflective work, probably dating from the last decade of the composer's life, and Requiem, probably an earlier work, a texturally diverse compilation of movements that seem to accumulate in complexity with each passing movement - some say it's a pastiche from several Ockeghem's requiems, but perhaps it was intended as an exploration of styles witnessed and tried by Ockeghem during his life, from the most geometrical to the most florid and melodic. These amazing musical contrasts, all within 71 minutes of playing time, help one appreciate the reason Ockeghem was so respected by his contemporaries. The booklet mentions the poetic and musical tributes to Ockeghem that were written on his death. The most well known of them is Josquin's Deploration on the death of Ockeghem (nymphes du bois) which can be heard on The Hilliard's recording of Josquin's Motets and Chansons - listen to it, it weaves two lines of Requiem into the heart-rending secular lament by poet Molinet. The "fillers" on this disc are also remarkable. One is a setting of Ockeghem's famous rondeau Fors Seulement by Pierre de la Rue (Ockeghem's original Fors Seulement is also featured). The other is the darkly intriguing Du Tout Plongiet by Antoine Brumel. The Clerks vocalize all four parts, but, as was observed by Gramophone, they owe their inspiration to the pioneering recording of this work by David Munrow, on the Art of the Netherlands CD, with Martyn Hill and Geoffrey Shaw, accompanied by two bass viols. This single piece, with two lines of thought moving simultaneously in perfect counterpoint, is so beautiful that it alone is worth the price of this disc. Unsurprisingly, this disc won a Gramophone award."

Okeghem the master

M. Tierra | Santa Cruz, California USA | 11/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a stunning recording in every respect. The voices are perfectly blended and the digital recording mix provides impeccable clarity so that every line has definition. This music of Okeghem, especially as performed by this superb vocal ensemble, should appeal to all those who have come to recognize the meditative beauty of Hildegarde's monophonic music. Imagine three or four single voiced gregorian chant lines weaving in and out of each other but with rhythmic vigor to form a a rich tapestry of sound and you may begin to form an appreciation of this great music. Trying to imagine the ideal setting for appreciation of this music. Certainly it was written to accompany the solemn ritual of the Catholic mass but unlike the later composers of the renaissance, this music is not intended as a display for royalty but truly an introspective experience. While the music is ever evolving and changing, it remains the same like the facets of a turning diamond catching different light reflections. Okeghem was one of the greatest of the Flemish 15th century composers whose work was highly respected and imitated by his contemporaries and his successors. He is one of the important events in the historical evolution of a kind of spiritaul music that ultimately culminated in the music of the great J.S. Bach. When listening to this music, light a candle, remove all distractions and allow yourself and all the cells of your body to be acted upon by its full deep resonance."

Another successful attempt by the Clerks' Group to restore O

Eddie Konczal | 01/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though not as well known today as predecessor Guillaume Dufay and protègè Josquin Desprez, Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1410-1497) was revered by contemporaries and was once considered the premier composer of the 15th Century. Josquin himself acknowledged Ockeghem's importance, commemorating his predecessor in the lament "La dèploration de Jehan Ockeghem."



With "Missa Fors Seulement," Ockeghem follows in the footsteps of Dufay, who pioneered the technique of basing the Mass Ordinary on a pre-existing tenor from a secular source (as opposed to a Church-approved plainsong chant) with his "Missa Se la face ay pale." One key difference is that while Dufay's "Missa se la face ay pale" was based on a short chanson, Ockeghem structures his Mass on a song ("Fors Seulement") that's longer than any of the individual Mass movements. Ockeghem begins each Mass movement with a haunting "head motif" based on a descending tetrachord. From there, Ockeghem plunges his lower voices to depths unexplored by previous composers, creating an effect that is positively spine-tingling.



"Requiem," the earliest surviving Requiem Mass composition by any composer, represents an entirely different side of Ockeghem. Ockeghem explores a variety of polyphonic textures, thereby eschewing compositional unity. In this, he seems to have influenced later composers such as Obrecht.



The inclusion of works based on "Fors Seulement" by Pierre de la Rue and Antoine Brumel illustrates Ockeghem's influence on the following generation of composers and reinforces Ockeghem's place in music history.



This is the second CD I heard in the Clerks' Group's Ockeghem series (after "Missa de plus en plus; 5 Motets"). Once again, their performances excel, as do the disc's production values. The Clerks' Group's efforts to restore Ockeghem's reputation are clearly succeeding, and I look forward to hearing the rest of their series."