This is the second
volume and completes the set of seven
psalms. The Psalms are considered to
be amongst Lassus’s finest church music,
and that is saying something as he was
one of the most prolific composers that
has ever lived. But to understand the
music and indeed the performance we
need to look back into the antecedents
of these psalm settings.
In 1566 Lassus was
persuaded to join the court of Duke
Albert V of Bavaria at Munich where
he was to spend the rest of his life.
These psalms were composed about 1560
at the request of the Duke who was so
moved by their depth of emotion that
he had them specially copied on to parchment,
illustrated with miniatures by the court
painter and bound in two volumes in
red morocco with silver clasps. Lassus,
according to Marc R. Vogelsang the writer
of the detailed and fascinating booklet
notes, would apparently have preferred
that the music was published. His wish
did not come to fruition until 1838
and ever since these psalms have been
regarded as among the masterpieces of
renaissance music. A contemporary of
Lassus, Samuel Quickelberg said of them:
"One does not know whether the
sweetness of the emotions more adorns
the plaintive melodies or the melodies
the emotions".
Lassus does not set
these psalms as continuous music but
varies the numbers of voices per verse
according to the text. Capriccio has
indexed each verse which on most but
not all CD players will enable fairly
easy access. Psalm 51 which opens the
CD for example has twenty-two index
points. All of the psalms are scored
for five part choir with divided tenors.
The wonderful word-painting
was considered to be quite a novelty
and still comes across as particularly
fresh and imaginative. The fifth penitential
psalm, a setting of Psalm 101 or 102
in the Vulgate, is the longest of all
and is worth a closer examination.
It opens with a full-blooded
cry of the sinner to God. Having gained
His attention he sadly confesses his
affliction in verse four set for low
voices. At the words "consumed
like smoke" the music vanishes
abruptly for a moment, the same thing
happening in verse twenty-seven after
the word "perish". There is
more. In verse eight we hear, in the
two discantus parts, the sparrow flying,
then settling, solitary and still on
the rooftop. In verse ten the sinner’s
weeping is portrayed in dolorous downward
falling figures. In verse twenty, when
the Lord in Heaven looks down to earth,
the top line drops a whole octave. In
verse nine Lassus marvelously conveys
the insidious chattering of the enemies
in just two top voice parts.
Now let us consider
the performance.
Some of you may know
some woodcuts of Lassus at work. One
shows him at the keyboard with instrumentalists
of the Bavarian court. There is also
an illustration by Nikolaus Solis of
the Wedding Banquet in the George-Saal
in Munich on 22nd February
1568.In the foreground Lassus is seen
surrounded by members of the ‘Kapelle’.
It is interesting to notice that there
are young men and obviously a handful
of boys. There is also an organ, some
sackbuts, a bass viol or two and possibly
more strings. In other words it seems
that Lassus is just about to present
his music (he carries a book) with singers
and instrumentalists. I have
seen other similar illustrations: one
by Hans Mielich which also shows singers
and a multifarious group of strings
and wind (New Grove). It is this exact
sound-world which is here recreated
by Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden on this amazing
recording.
Other recordings should
be briefly mentioned. Henry’s Eight
on a Hyperion double-album of all the
psalms (CDA 67271/2) opt for an a
capella version at a low pitch using
‘falsettos’. The Hilliard Ensemble,
also at the low pitch, use instrumental
accompaniment from the Kees Boeke ensemble
on two CDs (Virgin 61216). There was
also a fine LP, recorded in 1976 for
Argo, of the 5th Penitential
Psalm by the Choir of Christchurch Cathedral
under a youthful Simon Preston. This
was a very heart-felt rendering, again
a capella, and very Oxbridge
in sound. What is therefore remarkable
about this new recording is that:-
a) Instrumentalists
are used throughout: that is strings,
lute or chitarrone, dulcian, organ or
regal, trombones and more and
b) Boys are used instead
of men on the top line and/or the alto
line as a higher pitch is generally
used especially in the fifth and seventh
psalms.
In the other two psalms
the male altos are used as a lower pitch
is required for these somewhat more
solemn settings. The instrumental participation
seems to allow Lassus’s textures to
be more clearly marked. Sometimes the
instruments are left alone for a wonderful
moment. Like the composers of the earlier
Josquin generation, Lassus used much
imitation and canon. He also sometimes
utilizes strong homophonic textures.
The lower lines are solemnly declared
by low brass against a single alto or
treble voice.
I have to say that
the tuning of these very continental
sounding boys is not always up to scratch,
as they seem to be aiming up the notes
from a chest voice instead of, what
we expect from the Oxbridge sound: the
ringing head voice.
The other soloists
are acceptable but not especially exciting
in vocal quality. The tempi can be unvarying
and I am not always keen on the balance
in the sections between instruments
and soloists. The boys especially seem
to be positioned behind the sackbuts
at one point which I can’t think is
a good idea.
Nevertheless, although
these are not perfect performances (is
anything?) they are by far the best
and most arrestingly authentic I have
yet heard. They attract my attention
not through the quality of singing necessarily
but through the clear direction and
imaginative colouring of lines and textures.
The more I hear them the more I like
them and, what’s more, I admire the
music even more.
Gary Higginson
Musicalische Compagney Berlin/Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden
for
details 
