Another Stunning Performance!
Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 07/20/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"De Vitry is best known (and only to musicologists) as the mastermind of the new musical notation which made ars nova polyphony possible, and which led to the development of modern notation. The evidence of his role is provisional, and the attribution of the motets on this CD to him is quite speculative, but if it's correct, then he was one of the greatest musical innovators of all time. Now the virtuosity of the Orlando Consort has brought this crucial repertory to life in a performance of such beauty and subtlety that the listener can forget about scholarship and just bask in sound. The art of this music is chiefly in the complex polyrhythmic development of relatively transparent harmonic progressions. As usual, the Orlando's control of phrasing and tuning is phenomenal. I have one huge gripe, however. There are no texts! These motets, most of them poly-textual, are of great literary interest. They are not just the usual love-stuff; they include mordant satire of 14th C society and of the church, as well as witty self-reflections. Still, the musical values are so strong that I have to rate the CD as five stars... or let's say as seven stars, minus two for the lack of texts."