Classical Music

Du Mont: Motets à voix seule - Hayne: Requiem pour Marie de

Includes work(s) by Carlo Farina, David Pohle, Johann Jacob Löwe, Johann Jakob Walther. Ensemble: Ricercar Consort. Conductor: Pierre Pierlot. Soloist: François Fernandez.

«Apt for Viols and Voices». That's how the fusion of voices and viols is mentioned in several documents of the English renaissance. This CD is devoted to two of the most important composers of that period who've bequeathed us an important body of 'consorts' for 4 and 6 part viols as well as some very moving 'consort songs'. Both were employed at the royal court. The former Elisabeth the 1st, the latter by James the 1st. The elder remains faithful to the basic principles of polyphony acquired with his master Thomas Tallis for whom he writes the poignant elegy 'Ye Sacred Muses'. The second musician, on the other hand, a viola virtuoso, leads his instrument into new avenues and develops his polyphony through audacious experiments.

Ricercar's recording of the complete cantatas of Matthias Weckman (RIC 216) is now followed by one of his chamber music. His sonatas for four instruments were intended for the concerts given by the Hamburg Collegium Musicum, the society where the most 'modern' music of the time was to be heard, and were inspired by the virtuoso works by Viennese and Venetian composers. The harpsichord pieces are very much in the style of his friend J.J. Froberger; they foreshadow the works of Bach's generation in that they allude just as much to the style of the French suite as to that of Italian contrapuntal works. The various German songs recorded here are an example of the works that Weckman supplied for the official occasions of Hamburg municipal life.

The celebration of the Nativity has always been a source of inspiration for composers. The different elements of the evangelical narrative evoke numerous images: tender feelings before the Baby Jesus; the gentleness of his mother, the Virgin Mary; the procession of the three Wise Men; the angelic choirs in Heaven; and these shepherds gathered in the manger. All that appears in the musical repertoire linked to this holiday, as well as the presence of colourful instrumentations and themes connected to folk traditions. This set, released by Ricercar, brings together all these elements, drawn from the repertoires of the Renaissance and Baroque eras.

With this set, RICERCAR is beginning the rerelease of one of the jewels in its catalogue: the large collection devoted to sacred music of the German Baroque. Each set will group pieces by theme, the first being devoted to music for Passiontide, Easter and funeral cantatas. This long page in the history of music stretches from Schütz to Bach with the first release of a highly moving live recording of Bach's Johannes Passion by Les Agrémens and the Chamber Chorus of Namur conducted by Guy van Waas.

Funerary cantatas are highly individual works within the German Protestant liturgy, often calling for specific instruments such as the recorder and the viola da gamba. This release includes not only J.S. Bach's youthful Actus Tragicus but also three other works that belong to this genre and that make full use of all its characteristics, including the string pizzicati that imitate the tolling of the funeral bell. Ricercar, to seek, has been the underlying motto of the Ricercar Consort ever since its foundation. It was in 1985, with J. S. Bach’s Musical Offering, that the ensemble made its first concert tour, having already acquired a solid international reputation with its recordings, notably in German Baroque cantatas and instrumental music. Today, under the direction of Philippe Pierlot, the Ricercar Consort continues to explore the Baroque repertoire, from chamber music to opera and oratorio, and to enthrall music-lovers with performances that are both profound and rigorous.

After having been organist at the church of Saint-Paul in Paris, the Li�ge-born Henry Du Mont became ma�tre de chapelle to Louis XIV. His first volume of motets, the Cantica Sacra, was published in 1652, thanks to which he made a name for himself as one of the creators of the motet fran�ais; he also composed the first motets � voix seule, a genre that would develop greatly over the following generations. This recording also includes several motets by L�onard Hodemont, ma�tre de chapelle of the cathedral of Saint-Lambert in Li�ge.

Ricercar first released this collection of cantatas by Buxtehude in 2007 to mark the 300th anniversary of the composer’s death; it provides a comprehensive summary of the different musical styles that Buxtehude employed. Set to both Latin and German texts, these "geistliche Konzerte" are remarkable not only for their emotional and theatrical writing for the voice but also for the close linking of the instrumental parts with the vocal lines. Ricercar, to seek, has been the underlying motto of the Ricercar Consort ever since its foundation. It was in 1985, with J. S. Bach’s Musical Offering, that the ensemble made its first concert tour, having already acquired a solid international reputation with its recordings, notably in German Baroque cantatas and instrumental music. Today, under the direction of Philippe Pierlot, the Ricercar Consort continues to explore the Baroque repertoire, from chamber music to opera and oratorio, and to enthrall music-lovers with performances that are both profound and rigorous.