French Chansons [1] Faute d'argent - Josquin Desprez (c. 1440-1521) [2] Mille regretz - Josquin Desprez (c. 1440-1521) [3] Le chant des oiseaux - Clement...
French Chansons
[1] Faute d'argent - Josquin Desprez (c. 1440-1521)
[2] Mille regretz - Josquin Desprez (c. 1440-1521)
[3] Le chant des oiseaux - Clement Jannequin (c. 1485-1558)
[4] Je ne le croy - Pierre Sandrin (fi. 1538-61 )
[5] Or vien ça - Clement Jannequin (c. 1485-1558)
[6] Aime qui vouldra - Nicolas Gombert (c. 1500-56)
[7] Quand je suis aupres - Nicolas Gombert (c. 1500-56)
[8] Tant que vivrai - Claudin de Sermisy (c. 1490-1562)
[9] Venez, regrets - Claudin de Sermisy (c. 1490-1562)
[10] La, la, maistre Pierre - Claudin de Sermisy (c. 1490-1562)
[11] En ce mois delicieux - Jacques Arcadelt (c. 1505-68)
[12] Margot, labourez les vignes - Jacques Arcadelt (c. 1505-68)
[13] Du temps que j'estois amoureux - Jacques Arcadelt (c. 1505-68)
[14] Sa grand beaute - Jacques Arcadelt (c. 1505-68)
[15] Belle qui tiens ma vie - Jehan Tabourot (1520-95)
[16] Vray Dieu - Vassal
[17] Prière devant le repas - Jacob Clemens (c. 1515-c. 1556)
[18] Action des Graces - Jacob Clemens (c. 1515-c. 1556)
[19] Il est bel et bon - Pierre Passereau (fl. 1509-47)
[20] Ce n'est que fiel - Claude Le Jeune (c. 1530-1600)
[21] Bonjour mon coeur - Orlande de Lassus (1532-94)
[22] Si je suis brun - Orlande de Lassus (1532-94)
[23] Beau le cristal - Orlande de Lassus (1532-94)
[24] La nuit froide - Orlande de Lassus (1532-94)
[25] Un jeune moine - Orlande de Lassus (1532-94)
[26] De nuit, le bien - Antoine de Bertrand (fi. 1561-82)
[27] Arrête un peu mon coeur - Guillaume Costely (c. 1530-1606)
This recording comprises a representative selection from the thousands of
French polyphonic songs or Chansons which were composed during the 16th
century. This type of music, which had much in common with the Italian Madrigal
- its composers included - became popular not just in France but all over
Europe. The intention here is to celebrate the sheer variety within the genre,
ranging from bawdy [25] to bucolic [10], from dance [15], [19] to devotion [17],
[18], and from the philosophical [23], [24] to the pleasure [16], [26] and pain
[11], [27] of requited or unrequited love.
Chansons had already been composed in the 15th century by earlier
Franco-Flemish composers such as Machaut, Dufay, Busnois and Ockeghem, to name
perhaps the four most famous, but the court I y manner of their music and its
verse remained mediaeval in feeling. With the advent of the Age of Humanism
however, a musical transformation was brought about through the influence of the
leading composer of the time, Josquin Desprez, and his innovative compositional
techniques of voice-leading and imitation. His Faute d'argent [1] is a
robust canon between alto and baritone, probably based on a scurrilous popular
song (see also [10] and [12]). Quite different is Mille regretz [2], a
tantalizingly short but haunting love song, later expanded by Gombert into a
6-voice version, on which Morales in turn composed a Parody Mass. Such
borrowing and reworking was a common feature of composition at the time, and
many famous Chansons provided material for masses and dance music. Sermisy,
Arcadelt and Lassus were amongst the most frequently honoured in this way.
The music of continental Europe continued to be dominated by composers from
the region of Flanders (roughly speaking, modern-day Belgium) until well into
the second half of the 16th century. These men pursued international careers -
Gombert in Madrid, Arcadelt in Rome, and Lassus in Munich (the only notable
exception was Clemens) -and whilst it would be true to say that no composer of
the time escaped their influence, that is in no way to belittle the achievement
or originality of others such as Clement Jannequin, a native of Bordeaux, and
composer of probably the most famous Chanson of all, [3] Le Chant des oiseaux:
the great Gombert himself made a three voice version of it, perhaps for the
enjoyment of his colleagues and fellow-countrymen in the Emperor Charles V's
famous Cappilla Flamenca (Flemish Choir).
A markedly different approach becomes noticeable in some Chansons by the
Parisian court composers Sermisy and Sandrin. There, a new aesthetic agenda,
partly set by progressive poets such as Marot [8] and Ronsard [21], demanded
greater emphasis on the Gallic virtues of charm, simplicity and textual clarity
as against the relative obscurity of abstract polyphony. The maturation of this
style can be heard in the songs by Le Jeune [20] and Bertrand [26], but the
Chanson did also continue to develop to a certain extent in a more Madrigalian
direction [27].
The printer Attaignant, followed by Le Roy & Ballard in Paris and Susato
in Antwerp, successfully published hundreds of Chansons in the course of the
16th century, causing them to be widely disseminated, and incidentally assuring
their preservation down to the present day.
(Note and translations by Robin Doveton)
The Scholars of London
Since their professional debut 23 years ago The Scholars have given at least
2000 concerts in more than fifty countries, a record which can be rivalled by
very few ensembles in the field of chamber music. In that time they have
performed in many of the world's most famous concert halls, from the Royal
Festival Hall in London, the Lincoln Center in New York and the opera house in
Sydney to smaller, more intimate venues such as the Wigmore Hall in London or
the Brahmssaal in Vienna.
The basis of The Scholars' repertoire has always been music from the golden
age of the European renaissance, but they are also actively involved in the
commissioning and performing of new music and their concert programmes range
from a single period of musical history to one which covers more than five
hundred years. The Scholars have made many recordings but this CD collection of
French Chansons is their first for Naxos.