Corina Marti – Music of the 15th Century

Contents anon.: Portigaler (After Guillaume Dufay “Or me veult bien Esperance mentir”) anon.: Redeuntes in idem mi de eadem mensura anon.: Ave stella matutina Jacobus Viletti: Ein buer gein holtze anon.: Se la phase pale (after Guillaume Dufay “Se la face ay pale”) anon.: Redeuntes In fa anon.: Redeuntes In ut anon.: Magnificat Octani toni anon.: Sequuntur Redeuntes In Idem Busnois: En soustenant vostre querelle anon.: Praeambulum super f anon.: Annavasanna (upon Anonymous “Une foys avant que morir”) anon.: Der Winter will hin wichen anon.: Christus surrexit mala nostra texit… anon.: Bohu svemu krali nebeskemu anon.: Ich sah ein bild in blauwer weyt anon.: Gross senen Busnois: A vous sans aultre anon.: Verlangen tut mich krencken anon.: Ich sachs eyns mols den lichten morgensterne anon.: Adyen matres belle (upon Gilles de Bins dit Binchois “Adieu mes tres belles amours”) anon.: Redeuntes in la anon.: Parleregart / Ad huc semel (After Guillaume Dufay “Par le regart de vos beaulx yeulx”) anon.: Qui vult messite (after Gilles de Bins dit Binchois “Qui veut mesdire”) anon.: Praeambulum super sol

The path that all interested listeners will take here leads into the deep and not yet fully explored forests of instrumental music of the second half of the fifteenth century in or around southern Germany. Zigzagging from one repertoire to another, from one manuscript to the next and, of course, from one ‘soundscape’ to another (by presenting various combinations of instruments, in dialogue or simply letting some of them speak for themselves). At the end of their sonic journey, listeners can enjoy the full panoramic view of this rich and fascinating tradition. The majority of the repertoire presented here comes from three important manuscripts, all of which were copied in the second half of the 15th century: the Buxheimer Orgelbuch (Bux, ca. 1470), the Lochamer Liederbuch (Loch, ca. 1460) and the Glogauer Stimmbücher (or Zagan Stimmbücher, to use the title preferred in some recent studies).

All three books are treasure troves full of delightful and unexpected discoveries. Among the composers featured in the French section of this recording are some of the most important and famous musicians of the fifteenth century: Guillaume Du Fay, Gilles Binchois, Antoine Busnois. The works are interspersed with Buxheimer’s free instrumental improvisations, Reduntes and Preambula. The former consist of a heavily ornamented upper voice flowing against a held (or repeated) tone in the lower voice, while the latter are essentially fantasy-like pieces divided into several parts with contrasting rhythms and textures. Although the rendition here is purely instrumental, the words are constantly present on a subliminal level, creating another semantic and tonal level – imperceptible, but always present in the background.