IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PETRUS ALAMIRE

Laudantes Consort, Guy Janssens / Henry's Eight, Jonathan Brown / Egidius Kwartet / Nederlands Kamerkoor / Capella Sancti Michaelis / Currende Consort, Erik van Nevel / Capilla Flamenca, Dirk Snellings

The Mass, the motet, the chanson. These three genres make up the lion’s share of the polyphonic works in the Alamire manuscripts, a body of fifty often opulently illuminated manuscripts of Flemish origin; these were compiled between 1490 and approximately 1530 as a result of the contacts of the Burgundian-Habsburg princes with foreign rulers and religious brotherhoods. They were named after their copyist, one Petrus van der Hove, alias Alamire — his pseudonym spelt out in note names that he often used as his signature on a stave. Seven of these manuscripts are to be found in Belgium: one in the Archief en Stadsbibliotheek of the city of Mechelen, the only one of the seven that is still kept in the city of its creation, and six in Brussels in the Bibliothèque royale de Belgique, including the splendid chansonnier or song-book compiled by Margaret of Austria of works by herself and others (Ms. 228). The remaining manuscripts are valued just as highly abroad as in Belgium and are preserved in eleven other European libraries, principally those of Jena, Munich, the Vatican and Vienna.

It can be seen from the above how much store the composers of the Renaissance set by their combining beauty of sound, expression and symbolism with expert and highly skilled compositional techniques. Polyphony was known at that time as the ars perfecta, the perfect art: the word ars here still has its original meaning as the Latin translation of the Greek word technè, meaning learning or skill. Here it signifies the mastery of an extremely difficult technique of combining several vocal lines with each other in such a way that they form a perfect whole and are yet imparted with a deeper significance that goes beyond the simple experience of the senses. It is precisely thanks to this unique combination of reason and emotional power that this music remains timeless.

Agricola, A:
 Lamentatio Jeremiae
 Lectio prima/secunda/tertia

Despres:
 Messe de L'Homme Armé
 Mille Regretz
 Motets
 Scaramella va alla guerra

Isaac:
 Ach, was will doch mein Herz damit (for 4 voices)
 Alla battaglia
 Es wolt ein meydlein grasen gan
 In Gottes Namen fahren wir (for 4 voices)
 Mon père m'a donné mari (for 4 voices)
 Rorate, caeli (introit) from the Mass Proper for the Feast of the Annunciation
 Virgo prudentissima 6vv

Mouton, J:
 Nesciens Mater
 Noe, Noe

Ockeghem:
 Ave Maria
 Missa Caput
 Requiem [excerpts]

Rue, P:
 Absolve Quasesumus Domine
 Autant en emporte le vent
 Fors seulement
 Il viendra le jour désiré
 Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes
 Mijn hert altijt heeft verlanghen
 Missa Cum Iucunditate
 Missa de Septem Doloribus
 Missa Sub tuum praesidium
 O salutaris hostia

Willaert:
 Ave virgo sponsa Dei
 Douleur me bat
 Lauda Jerusalem
 O crux splendour
 Pater Noster
 Quante volte diss'io
 Vecchie letrose