Pour un plaisir - Songs and
tientos by Antonio de Cabezón and his contemporaries
Antonio de CABEZÓN (1510-1566)
Canción Francesca (after Clemens non Papa) [2:06]
Tiento primo tomo [1:28]
Diferencias sobre el canto llano del Caballero [2:56]
Tiento del quarto tono sobre Malheur me bat (after Ockeghem) [2:40]
Diferencias sobre la gallarda milanesa [2:19]
Alonso MUDARRA (c.1510-1580)
Tiento para harpa ó organo [0:59]
Antonio de CABEZÓN
Anchor che col partire (after De Rore) [2:56]
Pavana (con su glosa) [2:39]
Quien llamo al partir partir [2:06]
Francisco Fernández PALERO (c.1533-1597)
Mort m'a privé par se cruelle envie [2:30]
Antonio de CABEZÓN
Tres sobre el canto llano de la alta [2:32]
Tiento cuarto tono [3:16]
Pour un plaisir (after Crecquillon) [2:23]
Romance Para quien crie yo cabellos [1:38]
anon
Tiento secondo tono [1:35]
Antonio de CABEZÓN
Je suis ayme de la plus belle (after Crecquillon) [2:47]
anon
Cinque diferencias sobre Las Vacas [2:01]
Hernando de CABEZÓN (1541-1602)
Doulce mémoire (after Sandrin) [3:55]
Véronique Musson-Gonneaud (renaissance double harp)
rec. September 2010, Chapelle Saint-Antoine, Pietracorbara (Corsica), France.
DDD
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94351 [45:02]
The harp has been one of the most distinguished instruments in Western history
from early times until the late 17th century. Part of its high stature derived
from its connection with the biblical King David. In the Middle Ages the harp
was a rather simple instrument which was only able to play diatonic scales.
In the 16th century it was considered not suitable to play the more complicated
pieces which were written at that time. In 1555 the Spanish theorist Juan
Bermudo described various ways in which the harp could be adapted to modern
requirements. Over the ensuing decades a second rank of strings was added,
comparable to the black keys of the keyboard. The chromatic notes were played
by poking a finger between the two strings in the main row to reach a chromatic
string beyond.
There is relatively little repertoire from the 16th and early 17th centuries
which was specifically intended for the harp. The main reason was that there
were few amateurs who played it. There was therefore no market for collections
of harp music. That said, both in Spain and in Italy there were some highly-skilled
professional harpists. The Spanish played solo music, mostly improvised, and
accompanied singers in secular songs (todos humanos). Their Italian
colleagues also participated in performances of oratorios and operas in the
basso continuo section. Broadly speaking the music the harpists played was
also suitable to be performed at the keyboard or on plucked instruments, like
the vihuela in Spain and the chitarrone in Italy. In the liner-notes for his
recording "Harp Music of the Italian Renaissance" (Hyperion) Andrew
Lawrence-King refers to a "hidden repertoire" of pieces which were
published as keyboard music but were in fact not that well suited for it.
Such pieces included, for instance, intervals which were too wide for the
harpsichord or elements which explored specific features of the harp.
The present disc brings us music from the Spanish renaissance. In large part
it was written either for the vihuela or the keyboard; not specifically for
the harp. There were few harp players in Spain: the most famous was Ludovico
(or Luduvico), from the early 16th-century. None of his compositions is known,
but the vihuelist Alonso Mudarra portrayed his playing in the Fantasía
que contrahaze la harpa en la manera de Ludovico (included in Lawrence-King's
disc devoted to his art: "The Harp of Luduvico", Hyperion). Mudarra
also composed the only piece on this disc which mentions the harp as one of
the instruments for which it is intended: the Tiento para harpa ó organo.
Most of the pieces were written by Antonio de Cabezón, the leading composer
of keyboard music in Spain in the 16th century. He was blind from his birth
and became the favourite of King Philip II. Although the large collection
of his music which was printed in 1578 comprised music "for keyboard,
harp and vihuela", it was primarily intended for the keyboard. This in
turn means that the harp’s peculiar characteristics are not exploited. This
disc shows, though, that these pieces do very well on the harp. A prerequisite
is the exploration of those dynamic possibilities which the harpsichord or
the organ lack. That is exactly how Véronique Musson-Gonneaud plays them.
That way these performances are true alternatives to interpretations on keyboard
instruments. This is especially important as these pieces belong amongst Cabezón's
most frequently played. We hear the Diferencias sobre el canto llano del
Caballero and the Diferencias sobre la gallarda milanesa. These
represent two of the main then contemporary forms of music for solo instrument.
This kind of music had its origin in improvisation. It could take the form
of free invention (in Spain known as tiento), variations over a ground
bass (canto llano) and divisions over vocal music (diferencias).
All three genres are represented here. The various titles refer to the kind
of music which was popular at the time, which was largely from the pen of
representatives of the Franco-Flemish school: Crecquillon, Pour un plaisir
or De Rore, Anchor che col partire. As far as the less well-known
composers are concerned: Francisco Fernández Palero served for forty years
as the organist of the royal chapel at Granada. He was a famous organ expert.
Hernando de Cabezón was Antonio's son who also was responsible for
the publication of a large part of his father's oeuvre in 1578. In
the track-list Quien llamo al partir partir is attributed to Juan
de Cabezón, Antonio’s brother. I haven't been able to find any confirmation
of this andsuspect it may be an error.
At the end of the 16th century there were two kind of chromatic harp. In Spain
an instrument, known as arpa de dos órdenes, had crossed strings,
whereas the Italian arpa doppia had parallel rows. In her notes in
the booklet Véronique Musson-Gonneaud writes that "it is impossible to
say whether or not the harp played here (based on the double harp conserved
in Bologna) would have been used in Spain at the time. But the aim is also
to build a repertoire for this relatively unknown instrument, and this cannot
be achieved without experimentation". It seems a little exaggerated to
describe the arpa doppia as a "relatively unknown instrument".
It is used pretty frequently these days as a basso continuo instrument in
17th century music. There are various recordings on the market with solo music
for the harp. Moreover I would like to point out that Andrew Lawrence-King,
on his disc "The Harp of Luduvico", played the Spanish items on
a Spanish arpa doblada. That would have been the most appropriate
instrument for the repertoire on this disc. Ms Musson-Gonneaud has selected
those pieces which she considered to be suitable for the harp she chose to
play.
These considerations apart I have nothing but praise for the performances.
Ms Musson-Gonneaud's playing is differentiated and tasteful. She uses
the dynamic possibilities of her instrument well. This way, even works which
are quite familiar sound different from the way I have heard them before.
Moreover, this disc includes plenty of pieces which are not well-known. The
playing time is very short, but as Brilliant Classics discs are very cheap,
we have no right to complain.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
The harp is a good alternative for the keyboard in this Spanish repertoire.