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This disc centres on an approach to the Messe de Notre Dame that aims to be more historically informed than any other version yet recorded. This has entailed a close examination of the work’s musica ficta elements, its rhythmic relationships and the question of pronunciation. Based on the idea that the work should be sung broadly and flexibly, the performance in general has a more relaxed character to it, as compared to the tenser accounts such as by the Oxford Camerata or the two under Paul Hillier. That said, a certain nasal quality is brought to bear on the tone too - notably bright and resonant in the Sanctus - which is realised partly through what is thought to be the mediaeval Gallican pronunciation of Latin. At times the choir seems to proceed through phrases without much thought as to any variation in expression or articulation, except where the score clearly demands it. But ...
In Memoriam Guillaume de Machaut
Machaut – Messe de Notre Dame; works by Philippe de Vitry, Pierre de Bruges, Gilles d’Orléans etc.
Ensemble Musica Nova; Lucien Kandel
