GOMBERT: MUSIC FROM THE COURT

Sacred Music

Missa l'Homme Arm'e

Nicolas Gombert was a musical genius whose emotional complexity allowed him to write music unlike that of any other Renaissance composer.

Nicolas Gombert’s compositions, all vocal, are for ensembles of up to twelve parts. • His contrapuntal language is based on that of Josquin, but increasingly complex. • Imitation is used even more consistently than did Josquin, and Gombert’s vocal textures are often densely packed, with individual lines characterized by an avoidance of rests. • A substantial number of his compositions survive, including ten masses, over 160 motets, 60 secular chansons, and a set of eight Magnificats (one in each mode). • The motets on this recording, for 4–6 voices, offer fine representations of Gombert’s musical style.

The vocal ensemble Beauty Farm was founded in 2014 and is made up of members of top international ensembles such as the Huelgas Ensemble, Vox Luminis, Collegium Vocale Gent or Graindelavoix. The singers do not intend a homogeneous beautiful sound in their interpretations, but a colorful sound rather through characteristic drawing of the individual voices. Their second album is also dedicated to motets by Nicolas Gombert, a grand master of the Franco-Flemish polyphony. They have selected seventeen of his masterpieces, some of which are receiving their first recording here. Hermann Finck described this music perfectly in 1556 when he said “He avoids pauses, and his work is rich with full harmonies and imitative counterpoint.”