Recording information: Ringsaker Church, Hedmark, Norway (02/28/2009-03/01/2009); Ringsaker Church, Hedmark, Norway (05/18/2009-05/20/2009).

We know very little about Ruiz Samaniego, Kapellmeister in Saragossa during the second half of the 18th century. However, he left an abundant music production, including some villancicos. These polyphonic vocal works of theatrical origin have been adopted by the Church to celebrate their main feasts. Sung in Spanish, not in Latin, they are built on a religious thematic, mostly in the form of dialogues and they frequently use musical elements of popular origin. Very little explored, the Spanish Baroque vocal music is a world of many rich artistic treasures that cry to be rediscovered. The villancicos of Ruiz Samaniego are undoubtedly part of these treasures, as witnesses of an artistic universe specific to Spain, in which spirituality and sensuality are irremediably fused.

Die inn're Welt

Classical Music

It is difficult to decide what to admire most: the music or the performance. The combination of the two makes this disc a winner.

here are many ensembles which concentrate on the polyphony of the renaissance. Most of them don't pay that much attention to French music written in the second half of the 16th century. French ensembles like the Ensemble Clément Janequin concentrate for the most part on the secular chanson. The sacred repertoire is not fully explored. That is certainly the case with compositions written under the influence of the Reformation. The ensemble Ludus Modalis here set about redressing the balance.

Not much is known about Paschal de l'Estocart. It is not unusual that a year of birth isn't exactly known, but in de l'Estocart’s case we don't even know when he died. All his music which has come down to us was printed in 1582; then he just disappears. There is some circumstantial evidence that he was still alive in 1587 but that’s about it.

His early years are also shrouded in mist. He was born in Noyon (Picardie) and lived for a while in Lyon, where he married in 1563. The next recorded landmark came in 1581 when he enrolled at Basle University. Here he came into contact with the Huguenot pastor Antoine de La Roche-Chandieu, one of the authors of the 'Octonaires de la vanité du monde', a collection of spiritual huitains, set to music by Claude Le Jeune and La Roche-Chandieu himself. The first and second book of the 'Octonaires' were set to music by L'Estocart as well. These were recorded in 1982 by the Ensemble Clément Janequin for Harmonia Mundi. There is every reason to believe that L'Estocart was at the very least sympathetic to the ideas of the Reformation.

The music on this disc is taken from the collection 'Sacrae Cantiones', which contains sacred music on both French and Latin texts. The fact that L'Estocart also used Latin texts gives food for thought that he could have been indecisive in his religious convictions. Composers had to think practically: the inclusion of motets on Latin texts increased the chance of commercial success. The texts of the motets included here (five of the total of 8) are certainly not in conflict with the ideas of the Reformation.

The French pieces belong to the genre called chanson spirituelle. Originally the chanson was mostly of a secular nature. In the wake of the Reformation the – often amorous – texts were replaced by sacred texts. After a while a new genre emerged: protestant songs with original texts and music. These were either metrical psalms (like those by Marot and De Bèze) or chansons spirituelles on non-biblical texts. Both genres are part of the 'Sacrae Cantiones' by L'Estocart.

The melody of a metrical psalm is used by L'Estocart in 'O combien et plaisant', a setting of Psalm 133 (O how pleasant and desirable to see brothers united, amicably). The melody, which appears in the tenor of L'Estocart’s setting, is sung unisono first.

The title of this disc refers to the chanson spirituelle 'Deux coeurs aimants' which is about love according to biblical principles: "Two hearts, in worthy and holy faith, cherishing the sweet pleasure, fidelity's reward". It gives some idea of the character of these chansons spirituelles, many of which are about sin and redemption.

The longest piece on this disc is the 'Ode en douze parties', a series of twelve chansons whose complete title declares the subject matter: "Ode, in which Jesus Christ, the very God and very man, reminds all Christians of the good they receive through him". Christ speaks in all of these pieces: six of the twelve begin with the words "Je suis" (I am). "The anaphoric construction (…) at the start of the strophes is set each time to a rising motif which spans a whole octave, possibly serving to symbolise the metaphysical distance between God and his creation"; so writes Anne Coeurdevey in the booklet. The twelve chansons span the whole of the Bible, beginning with "The work of the creation of the world", followed by "Jesus Christ came to redeem man", his death, resurrection and ascension to heaven and ending with an "Exhortation to Christians to seek all good in Jesus Christ, and uphold His holy word".

"The musical language of L'Estocart is influenced, as with all the French composers of his generation, by that of Lassus. The whole range of compositional techniques, from imitative counterpoint to homorhythmic chordal writing, are employed to serve the goal of expression, the neatness with which the musical syntax matches that of the text, rhythmic variety and the sense of movement (…), and the wide use of rhetoric figures (…)." A good example of chordal writing and use of rhythm to express the text is in the ninth of the chansons from the 'Ode en douze parties', on the text "I reduce the enflamed rage of haughty rulers to air, and dash their intrigues".

The ensemble is very profound in its approach to these compositions. As the chansons were meant to be sung at home, the ensemble have opted for a more intimate acoustic than in the motets. As one of the aims of the ensemble was "to allow the richness of the polyphonic writing as much space as possible" they have opted for a performance without instruments. The scoring of the pieces, written for four to seven voices, varies: "solo voices for the chansons spirituelles and at specific moments during the Ode; doubled upper voices for the psalms; and all doubled voices for the large-scale motets". They also chose to perform these pieces at - "historically justified" - low pitch and with the contemporary French and Latin pronunciation.

This approach has certainly paid off. The result is a recording which is just wonderful: it is difficult to decide what to admire most, the music or the performance. It is the combination of the two which makes this disc a winner. The music is first-rate: how well did L'Estocart translate the texts into music and how well he used the compositional tools of his time to express the meaning of those texts. The ensemble is first-rate: the intonation is immaculate, the blending of the voices and the balance between the voices in the ensemble is excellent. The rhythmic flexibility, the dynamic shading and the communication of the text are most admirable.

I have very much enjoyed this disc, and I sincerely hope Bruno Boterf and his colleagues will record more pieces by L'Estocart.

-- Johan van Veen, MusicWeb International

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: La Morra.

Classical Music

Classical Music

In spite of the fact that Sibelius’ chamber music is far less well-known than his orchestral works, it forms a large and important part of his production. In terms of numbers of discs it makes up a fourth of the complete recorded edition being brought out on BIS. Already released are the complete quartets and piano trios [BIS-CD-1903/05] and the works for violin and piano [BIS-CD-1915/17]; the present set focuses on his chamber music for other instrumental combinations and includes a number of world première recordings and previously unreleased material. A substantial chapter is the music for cello (solo and with piano accompaniment), much of which was written for Sibelius’ brother Christian. It is here performed by Torleif Thedéen, with the support of Folke Gräsbeck on the piano. There are also a number of duos and trios for strings, including the brief Vattendroppar (Water Drops) for violin and cello pizzicato, which is often claimed to be Sibelius’ earliest surviving composition, dated to around 1875. Another, more sizeable, rarity is the music to the play Ödlan (The Lizard), scored for string ensemble. Composed in 1909, half way between the Third and Fourth Symphonies, it was once described by Sibelius as ‘one of the most exquisite works that I have written’. This volume also includes Sibelius only work for viola and piano (‘Rondo in D minor’), as well as the world première recordings of two pieces for solo kantele, the traditional Finnish plucked-string instrument which appears in the Kalevala, the Finnish national epos that served as such an inspiration to Sibelius. Another group of works with a specifically Finnish background, are the pieces for ‘torviseitsikko’, a particular combination of seven brass instruments and percussion. These are here performed by members of the eminent German ensemble brasspartout. A varied programme then on this ninth instalment of the acclaimed Sibelius Edition, about which a reviewer in Fanfare has already predicted that it ‘will certainly be considered a landmark in the history of recording’.

This selection's booklet contains the original Latin text with translations in German, French, Italian and English.
Recording information: La congrégation "Sacra Familia" à Martinengo, Bergamo (04/08/1996-04/12/1996).

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

A most remarkable CD, demonstrating the real avant-garde in vocal music, requiring phenomenal levels of vocal virtuosity. The performance by Clare Lesser is awesome and an object lesson in how to interpret challenging material.

MUDGE Concertos: No. 1 in D; 1 No. 2 in B?; No. 3 in G; No. 4 in d; No. 5 in B?; No. 6 in F. 2 Non nobis, Domine 3,4,5 • Dominik Kiefer (vn, cond); Henry Moderlak (tpt); 1 Marc Meisel (org); 2 Michael Feyfar (ten); 3 Raitis Grigalis (bar); 4 González Arroniz (bs); 5 Capriccio Basel (period instruments) • TUDOR 7173 (75:41)


A graduate of Pembroke College, Oxford, Reverend Richard Mudge (1718­–1763) was appointed curate of both Great and Little Packington in 1741. He may have been private chaplain to Lord Guernsey, who would later become the Earl of Aylesford. The family had significant musical connections, the best known being Handel’s friend and librettist, Charles Jennens. In 1750, Mudge obtained a position at St. Martin’s, Birmingham, where he became a popular preacher. In 1756, we find him in the post of rector at Bedworth, where he lived until his death. Even though Mudge’s liturgical career is well documented, there is almost nothing pertaining to his musical pursuits.


Two collections of Mudge’s music have recently been discovered; both seem to have their origins during his years in service to Lord Aylesford. Most of the material appears to be preliminary versions of this set of concertos, published in 1749. Concertos for strings were quite popular at the time, selling well in a market geared to the desires of talented amateur performers. While the solo parts require performers whose skills are well above the mean, many provincial music societies included collections such as this in their repertoire. The set is scored in seven parts: a concertino of two violins and cello and a ripieno of two violins, viola, bass, and basso continuo . The First Concerto adds a trumpet to the ripieno and the Sixth includes a solo organ part that is modeled along the lines of Handel’s organ concertos. The remaining concertos follow the slow-fast-slow-fast pattern found in the concertos of Corelli and Geminiani, indicating that Mudge may have spent some time studying works by those composers in Lord Aylesford’s collection.


The text of the three-part motet, Non nobis, Domine , comes from the opening of Psalm 113. The two melodic components­—by Belgian Phillip van Wilder and Englishman William Byrd—were quite popular with Jacobites who refused to attend services of the Church of England. It expressed their solidarity with the Stuart dynasty and their rejection of the reigning monarch. As a footnote of sorts, the first appearance in English of both the music and text was around 1620.


The Baroque orchestra Capriccio Basel was founded in 1999, and their first decade has included concerts in France, Hungary, the United States, and appearances at several German festivals. Their collaborators include Andrew Parrott, Monica Huggett, and Gottfried von der Goltz. The orchestra’s Web site includes other releases, including one of concertos by William Hayes, which I hope to have in hand in the near future.


The music is not revelatory; it walks down a path that has been previously traveled by the likes of other Englishmen including John Stanley, Charles Avison, and John Hebden. But to Capriccio Basel, Mudge’s music is singular, and their beautifully manicured interpretations compel much admiration. Under the direction of Concert Master Dominik Kiefer, the orchestra and soloists exhibit a fine sense of elegance and generous vitality as well. Capriccio Basel displays a rare sense of dedication in this release; it is apparent at every turn by way of their meticulous attention to each and every detail, be it written or implied. Impeccable ensemble and precise intonation are the hallmarks of these praiseworthy sessions. These passionate and sympathetic interpretations have brought belated credit to this consistently charming music, music that has been awaiting rediscovery for far too long.


FANFARE: Michael Carter

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Featuring Gluck Arias from Alceste, Wagner Arias from Tannhauser, Beethoven Fidelio Act 1, Britten, Menotti, Handel (sung in English).

Classical Music

Classical Music

Includes toccata(s) by Giovanni Gabrieli. Ensemble: Cologne Musica Fiata. Conductor: Roland Wilson. Soloists: Graham Nicholson, Sebastian Scharr, François Petit-Laurent, Martin Lubenow, Matthias Sprinz, Yuji Fujimoto, Detlef Reimers, Sebastian Krause, Ole Andersen, Cas Gevers, Henning Plumeyer, Peter Sommer.

Classical Music

Ives Lincoln the great commoner, gould Lincoln legend, harris abraham Lincoln walks at midnight, bacon ford's theatre, copland Lincoln portrait, McKay to a liberator, turok variations on an American song: aspects of Lincoln and liberty, persichetti a Lincoln address.