Ecole de Notre-Dame de Paris
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Anonymous, Pérotin, Léonin
Label: Harmonic
Magazine Review Date: 1/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: H/CD9349
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Mundus vergens |
Anonymous, Composer
(Gilles) Binchois Ensemble Anonymous, Composer Dominique Vellard, Conductor |
| Angelorum laude digna |
Anonymous, Composer
(Gilles) Binchois Ensemble Anonymous, Composer Dominique Vellard, Conductor |
| Viderunt omnes fines terre |
Léonin, Composer
Léonin, Composer (Gilles) Binchois Ensemble Dominique Vellard, Conductor |
| Veni creator spiritus |
Anonymous, Composer
(Gilles) Binchois Ensemble Anonymous, Composer Dominique Vellard, Conductor |
| Dum sigillum summi patris |
Pérotin, Composer
Pérotin, Composer (Gilles) Binchois Ensemble Dominique Vellard, Conductor |
| Eterni numinis mater et filia |
Anonymous, Composer
(Gilles) Binchois Ensemble Anonymous, Composer Dominique Vellard, Conductor |
| Sancte Germane |
Pérotin, Composer
Pérotin, Composer (Gilles) Binchois Ensemble Dominique Vellard, Conductor |
| Viderunt omnes V. Notum fecit |
Pérotin, Composer
Pérotin, Composer (Gilles) Binchois Ensemble Dominique Vellard, Conductor |
Author: Fabrice Fitch
The announcement last year that the Orlando Consort had won the Gramophone Early music Award is timely recognition of an ensemble who have had the patience to bide their time, quietly improving with each new recording (as DF noted in his commentary on the award, 11/96). Not only have the Orlandos progressed through their own naturally growing expertise, but they have also known how to bring out the best in their collaborations with musicologists, by whom they have been guided, while refining the group’s essential personality.
At this point let me reassure readers that the correct review has been matched to the review title above. To my mind, the virtues of our latest Award winners are shared by the Ensemble Gilles Binchois, and for similar reasons. Their approach to recording is unhurried, methodical, and (needless to say) deeply musical. A recent disc (“Les Premieres Polyphonies Francaises”, Virgin Classics Veritas, 12/96) has shown them to be perfectly attuned to the earliest period of composed polyphony. Here, Dominique Vellard and his friends tackle some of the most famous and most demanding pieces from this repertory. The experience is something of a revelation.
Vellard’s premise seems to be that most performances of organum are rather fast, that slowing down the music emphasizes its linear aspect and enhances one’s appreciation of its dissonances – most obviously in the four-voice pieces. This recording of Viderunt omnes has none of the rollicking insistence of David Munrow’s (ah-ha-ha-ha-ha), and the lines are more sharply defined here than in The Hilliard Ensemble’s essentially contemplative account – despite a huge difference in real time (nearly 18 minutes, as compared to under 12 for both the Hilliards and Munrow). The same is true of every alternative version I’ve been able to find for the other pieces in this collection (for example those of the two-voice Viderunt or Dum sigillum, or of the four-voice Mundus vergens). The result is a less motoric, process-driven impression of the music, one which I welcome enthusiastically. One can scarcely praise the singing enough; every member of the group is given a chance to shine, and does.
In a field blessed with recordings that are few but very fine, this disc makes a remarkable impact. Essential listening, I should say.'
At this point let me reassure readers that the correct review has been matched to the review title above. To my mind, the virtues of our latest Award winners are shared by the Ensemble Gilles Binchois, and for similar reasons. Their approach to recording is unhurried, methodical, and (needless to say) deeply musical. A recent disc (“Les Premieres Polyphonies Francaises”, Virgin Classics Veritas, 12/96) has shown them to be perfectly attuned to the earliest period of composed polyphony. Here, Dominique Vellard and his friends tackle some of the most famous and most demanding pieces from this repertory. The experience is something of a revelation.
Vellard’s premise seems to be that most performances of organum are rather fast, that slowing down the music emphasizes its linear aspect and enhances one’s appreciation of its dissonances – most obviously in the four-voice pieces. This recording of Viderunt omnes has none of the rollicking insistence of David Munrow’s (ah-ha-ha-ha-ha), and the lines are more sharply defined here than in The Hilliard Ensemble’s essentially contemplative account – despite a huge difference in real time (nearly 18 minutes, as compared to under 12 for both the Hilliards and Munrow). The same is true of every alternative version I’ve been able to find for the other pieces in this collection (for example those of the two-voice Viderunt or Dum sigillum, or of the four-voice Mundus vergens). The result is a less motoric, process-driven impression of the music, one which I welcome enthusiastically. One can scarcely praise the singing enough; every member of the group is given a chance to shine, and does.
In a field blessed with recordings that are few but very fine, this disc makes a remarkable impact. Essential listening, I should say.'
Ecole de Notre-Dame de Paris
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