One of the fascinating things about the history of European music is the way that the centers of musical thought, innovation, and influence shifted through the decades and centuries among various countries, regions, and nationalities. Often these shifts were determined by political events or ecclesiastical functions, but ultimately they depended as much on the creative powers of individual composers and the caliber of performers they and their music could attract. One of the most richly fertile musical regions during the 15th century was what is now northeastern France and the Low Countries, and this recording gathers a fair and superbly performed selection of works by some of the more illustrious and influential composers from the place and period. We get a nice mix of vocal and instrumental pieces, from unison chant to Josquin’s famous El grillo (The cricket) and Thomas Fabri’s complex three-part setting of the secular song “O Flanders Free”.
There are many pleasant discoveries, including a beautiful song by Heinrich Isaac–Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen (Innsbruck, I must leave you)–performed by baritone Lieven Termont with viols and recorder, an Alleluya by the highly underrated Antoine Busnoys, Ockeghem’s gorgeous three-voice My Mistress, and a short Laus Deo for four voices by an anonymous composer. The instrumental selections and accompaniments are stylishly and skillfully played; the singing by the four male vocalists (countertenor, tenor, baritone, and bass) is consistent with the high standard maintained by this group on its previous recordings. The sound in some of the vocal pieces (track 7, for example) becomes swamped in its own resonance, but in general there’s a wonderful shimmering vibrancy generated by the well-tuned and focused voices and instruments. Although the material isn’t quite as strong as on this same group’s Al-A-Mi-Re Manuscript disc (also on Naxos), this is a fine program, for the curious and the committed alike.
