Gilles BINCHOIS (c.1400-1460) Qui veut mesdire [1:40]; Amoreux suy [6:34]; Adieu mon amoreuse joye [2:57]
Le CARDOT (c.1380-1470) Pour une fois [1:06]
Gilles BINCHOIS Ay! doloureux [8:39]
Gilet VELUT (c.1410-l430) Un petit oyselet [1:56]
Anonymous Abide, I hope [4:11]
Gilet VELUT Laissies ester [3:07]
Johannes LEGRANT (c.1420-1440) Se liesse [1:15]
Johannes Del YMBURGIA (c.1400-1440) Descend in ortum meum [2:59]
Leonei POWER (d.1445 ) Gloria [3:12]
Gilles BINCHOIS Magnificat secundi toni [7:40]
John DUNSTABLE (c.1390-1453) Beata Dei genitrix [4:24]
Gilles BINCHOIS Se la belle [3:12]
Pierre FONTAINE (c.1380-1450) J'ayme bien celui [2:45]
Guillaume De MACHAUT (c.1300-1377) Il m'est avis [4:51]
Anonymous Exultavit cor in Domino [2:01]
H BYTTERING (c.1410-1420) En Katerina solennia [2:52]
Gothic Voices (Catherine King (mezzo); Margaret Philpot (alto); Rogers Covey-Crump, Paul Agnew, Steven Harrold, Julian Podger, Leigh Nixon (tenors); Stephen Charlesworth, Henry Wickham (baritones); Shirley Rumsey, Christopher Wilson, Christopher Page (lutes))/Christopher Page (director)
rec. location not specified, 23-25 March 1995. DDD
HYPERION HELIOS CDH55283 [66:42]
Volume 3 of the Hyperion reissue of Spirits of England and France series - here on the budget Helios label - is as excellent as the previous two volumes: music of the later Middle Ages for Court and Church, and Songs of the Trouveres. This programme is based around the French composer Gilles Binchois and his contemporaries, therefore focusing on the period of about 1400-1470, and commences with three Binchois works, which are then followed by a lively instrumental episode for lute by Cardot (Pour une fois). The most substantial work on the disc ensues - a searingly beautiful work by Binchois - Ay! doloureux, which is full of melancholy, brought out well by the Gothic Voices. Others pieces that particularly stand out on this admirable disc are the gloriously flamboyant and complex Laissies ester by Gilet Velut, with its incredible textures - a work in which the composer mourns the death of a fellow musician; the amazingly busy and complicated Gloria by English composer Leonel Power; the wonderfully serene Dunstable Beata Dei genitrix, and gorgeous Binchois Se la belle. There are also two delightful carols – the gentle English carol Abide, I hope, and an old carol from Agincourt, Exultavit cor in Domino. The disc concludes with Byttering’s En Katerina solennia, with its interesting rhythms. This is a thoroughly enjoyable disc. It has good notes, is well-presented, and presents the listener with a wide range of early fifteenth century French and English music. The musicianship is as high as one would expect from an ensemble whose voices include the likes of Paul Agnew and Rogers Cover-Crump - superbly phrased music from perfectly integrated voices. I thoroughly look forward to next issue in this excellent series.
Em Marshall
A thoroughly enjoyable disc ... see Full Review