Ockeghem Missa L'homme armé
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johannes Ockeghem, Anonymous, Josquin Desprez
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Naxos
Magazine Review Date: 4/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 57
Catalogue Number: 8 554297
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Ave Maria |
Johannes Ockeghem, Composer
Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Johannes Ockeghem, Composer Oxford Camerata |
Alma redemptoris mater |
Anonymous, Composer
Anonymous, Composer Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Oxford Camerata |
(L') homme armé |
Anonymous, Composer
Anonymous, Composer Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Oxford Camerata |
Missa "(L')homme armé" |
Johannes Ockeghem, Composer
Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Johannes Ockeghem, Composer Oxford Camerata |
Memor esto verbi tui |
Josquin Desprez, Composer
Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Josquin Desprez, Composer Oxford Camerata |
Immittet angelus Domini |
Anonymous, Composer
Anonymous, Composer Jeremy Summerly, Conductor Oxford Camerata |
Author: Fabrice Fitch
The centrepiece of this recording is Ockeghem’s L’homme arme Mass. Oxford Camerata’s choice for the Ockeghem quincentenary is most apt, since they have already given us Dufay’s setting on the famous tune (Naxos, 10/95). Besides, although this isn’t the first recording of Ockeghem’s Mass on CD, it is far and away the most accomplished, and is the first to be widely available. L’homme arme may be one of Ockeghem’s earliest Masses, dating perhaps from the early-1450s. It is also one of his most curious. For the most part it lies in a relatively high register, belying the composer’s usual predilection for low bass ranges; but every now and again the basses descend in spectacular fashion. In the third Agnus, they hold down the tune in very long notes, with the other voices seeming to float above them (as also happens throughout Ockeghem’s Caput Mass). Seldom before in the history of music can the articulation of time have been so clear a feature of a piece’s design: it seems almost to have been suspended altogether. It is an extraordinary moment, and extraordinarily difficult to pull off in performance, but here the singers seem to have got it right. Elsewhere, Summerly’s approach is nicely varied, but on the whole more meditative than emphatic; one might say that the performance grows in stature with each movement, as though keeping pace with the cycle’s ambition. In its details the reading is not without the odd glitch, but taken as a whole it is a fine achievement.
The accompanying motets work very well, too, though the treatment of musica ficta puzzles me. In particular, Summerly’s decision to sharpen leading-notes in Josquin, but not in Ockeghem, strikes me as odd (the same happened in his reading of another Ockeghem motet, Intemerata Dei mater in their anthology of renaissance masterpieces – Naxos, 3/95). A shame, too, that the choir’s richness of sound is not quite matched by the acoustic. They deserve a more inspiring venue. But the overall impression is resoundingly positive: those who didn’t hear any Ockeghem during his anniversary year should find this super-budget disc too good an opportunity to pass up.'
The accompanying motets work very well, too, though the treatment of musica ficta puzzles me. In particular, Summerly’s decision to sharpen leading-notes in Josquin, but not in Ockeghem, strikes me as odd (the same happened in his reading of another Ockeghem motet, Intemerata Dei mater in their anthology of renaissance masterpieces – Naxos, 3/95). A shame, too, that the choir’s richness of sound is not quite matched by the acoustic. They deserve a more inspiring venue. But the overall impression is resoundingly positive: those who didn’t hear any Ockeghem during his anniversary year should find this super-budget disc too good an opportunity to pass up.'
Explore the world’s largest classical music catalogue on Apple Music Classical.
Included with an Apple Music subscription. Download now.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £9.20 / month
SubscribeGramophone Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £11.45 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.