Ciconia Motets
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Anonymous, Johannes Ciconia
Label: Erato
Magazine Review Date: 10/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 53
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 3984 21661-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| O virum omnimoda/ O lux et decus/ O beate Nicolae |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| O felix templum jubila |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| Venecie mundi splendor/ Michael qui steno domus/ I |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| Albane misse celitus/Albane doctor maxime |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| Petrum Marcello venetum/ Petre antistes inclite |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| O Petre Christi discipule |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| Ut te per omnes/Igens alumnus Padue |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| O beatum incendium |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| O Padua sidus praeclarum |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| Doctorum principem/ Melodia suavissima/ Vir mitis |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| (2) Diminutions, Movement: Padu...serenans |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| (2) Diminutions, Movement: Albane, misse celitus |
Johannes Ciconia, Composer
Johannes Ciconia, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| Alleluia |
Anonymous, Composer
Anonymous, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| Alleluia: Franciscus pauper |
Anonymous, Composer
Anonymous, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
| Introitus: Dicit Dominus Petro |
Anonymous, Composer
Anonymous, Composer Mala Punica Pedro Memelsdorff, Recorder |
Author: David Fallows
Ciconia stands as the key composer of the years around 1400, so it is odd that there have been so few CDs devoted to his music since it was all published in a proper critical edition in 1985. While individual pieces such as Sus un’ fontayne or O rosa bella predictably find their way into many mixed collections, most of his music is ignored – partly because much of it does present serious musical difficulties. And in some ways the most difficult of his works are the motets. They pioneer a new manner of political celebration in music, but they contain more puzzling passages than anything else in his output.
So it was a bold move of Pedro Memelsdorff to present Ciconia’s entire output of motets. Even bolder is the way he approaches them, and some listeners may not like it. The musicians of Mala Punica slide along the music in a way that emphasizes its flow while effectively hiding the angularities and the dissonances – which is a defensible solution to the problem. A variety of instruments and bells provide the main sonic foreground, with the voices fitting in as and where they seem convenient. Notes and polyphonic lines are added to fill out certain textures according to the widely held view that the written music is just a shorthand for what really happened. There are sudden and dramatic changes of dynamic level. For two pieces Memelsdorff creates a florid instrumental fantasy to flesh out Ciconia’s musical bones.
It is always good to hear musicians grasp hold of the music in this way and to hear them avoiding the staid respectability that so often ruins recordings of music from these years. But one result can be that the pieces lose their individuality, that the viewpoint of a single charismatic modern performer can make a wildly inventive genius like Ciconia sound as though he composed the same piece over and over again. Everything here is very pleasing, resourceful and technically skilled; but far more dimensions of Ciconia’s versatility could well be revealed by different kinds of performances.'
So it was a bold move of Pedro Memelsdorff to present Ciconia’s entire output of motets. Even bolder is the way he approaches them, and some listeners may not like it. The musicians of Mala Punica slide along the music in a way that emphasizes its flow while effectively hiding the angularities and the dissonances – which is a defensible solution to the problem. A variety of instruments and bells provide the main sonic foreground, with the voices fitting in as and where they seem convenient. Notes and polyphonic lines are added to fill out certain textures according to the widely held view that the written music is just a shorthand for what really happened. There are sudden and dramatic changes of dynamic level. For two pieces Memelsdorff creates a florid instrumental fantasy to flesh out Ciconia’s musical bones.
It is always good to hear musicians grasp hold of the music in this way and to hear them avoiding the staid respectability that so often ruins recordings of music from these years. But one result can be that the pieces lose their individuality, that the viewpoint of a single charismatic modern performer can make a wildly inventive genius like Ciconia sound as though he composed the same piece over and over again. Everything here is very pleasing, resourceful and technically skilled; but far more dimensions of Ciconia’s versatility could well be revealed by different kinds of performances.'
Ciconia Motets
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