La Rue Missa cum iocunditate & Motets
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Pierre de La Rue
Label: Reflexe
Magazine Review Date: 8/1992
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 62
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 754082-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Missa cum iucunditate |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Hilliard Ens Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Ave regina caelorum |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Hilliard Ens Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Delicta iuventutis |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Hilliard Ens Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Gaude virgo mater |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Hilliard Ens Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Considera Israel |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Hilliard Ens Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
O salutaris hostia |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Hilliard Ens Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Plorer gemier |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Hilliard Ens Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Vexilla regis |
Pierre de La Rue, Composer
Hilliard Ens Pierre de La Rue, Composer |
Author: David Fallows
As the market for polyphony of the Josquin generation opens up—thanks partly to the astonishing success of The Tallis Scholars but also to a large number of ensembles both here and abroad—we begin slowly to hear a wider range of this music. Obviously Josquin was the first to benefit: much of his best work is now available in attractive recordings. But the other composers of his time are getting their chance too.
Pierre de La Rue seems to have been among the most successful of these. He was the favoured composer of the Hapsburg-Burgundy court in the early sixteenth century, his works many times recopied in the surviving manuscripts; and he was extremely prolific, with over 30 masses to his name, alongside much else. He remains a little-known figure, not least because there is still no complete edition of his music. And he is a difficult composer to assess: much of what is available looks over-fascinated by canonic devices at the expense of musical expression; but at the same time there are certain pieces of heart-rending expressivity.
So it fits in very well with the adventurous spirit of the Hilliard Ensemble that they should have devoted a record to La Rue, avoiding the more famous Requiem and the small handful of pieces that are fairly well known, heading straight for the unknown centre of his output. The Mass Cum iocunditate is a virtuoso exercise in dressing up a little musical tag that appears—so Ross Duffin's highly informative note tells us—98 times in the tenor. Beyond this, the record contains three of his most imposing motets—Gaude virgo, Considera Israel and Delicta juventutis—along with four slighter works. So far as I know, none of this music has been recorded before and very little of it is even available in modern published editions.
So those interested in this kind of music will want the record anyway, but they should be warned that not all the performances are up to the Hilliard's best standards. Most of the motets go well enough (though there is what sounds like an extremely clumsy edit near the end of Considera Israel); and Delicta juventutis, apparently a memorial motet for Duke Philip the Fair, goes marvellously. But the Mass—perhaps recorded after a heavy day—sounds really rather unpleasant, with the singers all seeming exhausted and puzzled by the music.'
Pierre de La Rue seems to have been among the most successful of these. He was the favoured composer of the Hapsburg-Burgundy court in the early sixteenth century, his works many times recopied in the surviving manuscripts; and he was extremely prolific, with over 30 masses to his name, alongside much else. He remains a little-known figure, not least because there is still no complete edition of his music. And he is a difficult composer to assess: much of what is available looks over-fascinated by canonic devices at the expense of musical expression; but at the same time there are certain pieces of heart-rending expressivity.
So it fits in very well with the adventurous spirit of the Hilliard Ensemble that they should have devoted a record to La Rue, avoiding the more famous Requiem and the small handful of pieces that are fairly well known, heading straight for the unknown centre of his output. The Mass Cum iocunditate is a virtuoso exercise in dressing up a little musical tag that appears—so Ross Duffin's highly informative note tells us—98 times in the tenor. Beyond this, the record contains three of his most imposing motets—
So those interested in this kind of music will want the record anyway, but they should be warned that not all the performances are up to the Hilliard's best standards. Most of the motets go well enough (though there is what sounds like an extremely clumsy edit near the end of Considera Israel); and Delicta juventutis, apparently a memorial motet for Duke Philip the Fair, goes marvellously. But the Mass—perhaps recorded after a heavy day—sounds really rather unpleasant, with the singers all seeming exhausted and puzzled by the music.'
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