Pete Down the Street!
Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 11/02/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Pierre de La Rue (1460-1518) was one of the several "Franco-Flemish" composers of the generation of Josquin Desprez who carried their advanced polyphonic compositional style to all corners oF Europe, often displacing the idiomatic styles of local schools of composition. Want a check list of names? Okay: Brumel, Mouton, Lourdault, Richafort, Bruhier, Lleritier, Boyleau, Moulu... Earlier giants: Dufay, Busnois, Binchois, Ockeghem... You'll find all of them in "The Medici Codex of 1518", a modern transcription of which was published by the University of Chicago Press, edited by Edward Lowinsky. You're likely to find it in your local university library.
Pierre de La Rue stayed closer to home than most of the others, working most of his life for the Hapsburg-Burgundian court. He seems to have had a close personal relationship with Maguerite of Austria, a tragic heroine of her own life, once jilted and twice widowed. In any case, his music is marked by a special affinity for the expression of grief, although grief in polyphony is always gentle and lovely. Otherwise, he sounds a lot like Josquin, not as lapidary-perfect in melody but every bit as enjoyable to hear if sung well.
Good recordings of Pierre are scarcer than honest Republicans. What a thrill it is, then to discover this 2-CD recording of the eight Magnificats (one for each of the eight proper modes, the basic scale-patterns of Renaissance music) and three of his Salve Reginas. VivaVoce is a choir of nineteen voices, led by Peter Schubert, himself a singer, who has been associated with Barnard-Columbia and with McGill in Montreal. I have the impression that VivaVoce is Montreal-based. In any case, they are a rare sort of choir, one that can sing polyphony without mashing the lines together in a big woof-woof sound. Highly disciplined yet flexible, capable to holding the conductor's tempo yet expressing the tension of polyphonic phrases with proper rhythmic independence. This seems to be their only recording. I'll be eager to hear more."
Amazing chorus
Penelope Boehm | usa | 05/27/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a beautiful interpretation, gorgeous chorus and wonderful sound. Can't say enough. It's a must own! I gave it to special people as a present."
