Schwetzinger Festspiele: Renaissance Music

[Jack Kelso]

Not being a great fan of music of the 15th and 16th centuries, I thought this would be a bore; I wouldn't have bought tickets, but since it was broadcast LIVE on my favorite classical station (SWR 2) and performed in the small medieval town of Speyer (about 18 km from where I live) I listened to it.

The performers were "Il Canzoniere di Messer Francesco Petrarca" Huelgas Ensemble conducted by Paul van Nevel. They played works by Orlando di Lasso and Cipriano de Rore.

It was unexpectedly wonderful. I guess I don't dedicate enough time to this ancient stuff.

I know we have Renaissance music lovers here. Does anyone know this ensemble? I've heard Lasso before, but these works were truly captivating.....unfortunately, I couldn't record it so I can't recall the titles of the pieces.

Best regards,
Jack

[PJME]

http://www.huelgasensemble.be/..alas website under construction. But Paul Van Nevel and the Huelgas ensemble are among the most respected Early Music Ensembles .
They issued the CD of that "Canzoniere di Petrarca" program
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001W ... nce&n=5174

At Sony you can read :

Founded by Paul Van Nevel, the Huelgas Ensemble has emerged as one of Europe's premiere vocal ensembles dedicated to the performance of music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Combining academic erudition with extraordinary skill and verve, the Huelgas Ensemble brings to life long-forgotten works of music that all too often have lain mutely in dark corners of archives and libraries across the European continent. Their most recent recording, La Pellegrina (SK 63362), features music from a sixteenth-century wedding in the Medici family.

At the heart of the group's interpretative style is the recognition of the symbiotic relationship that stood among the arts in the medieval and Renaissance mind. Bringing together everything from Albertus Magnus' study of temperaments to the "memory theatre" of Giulio Camillo and the oratorical techniques espoused by rhetoreticians of the period, the Huelgas Ensemble offers performances that are at once surprising and yet singularly apt.

The resultant record of achievement is an impressive one. Among their numerous critical prizes, the Huelgas Ensemble has garnered the Cannes Classical Award for their recent recording Pipelare: Missa "L'homme armé" (SK 68258), the Diapason d'or for their critically acclaimed recording Utopia Triumphans (SK 66261), the Edison award, the de Caecilia award, and the Snepvangers award of the Belgian Music Press. The list of awards extends back to their first VIVARTE recording, La Dissection d'un homme armé (SK 45860), which won First Prize of the CD Compact Records Awards 1991.

The Huelgas Ensemble released a collection of music by Matheus da Perusio (SK 62928) in early 1998. Their next recording, The Secret Labyrinth (SK 60760), will feature music of Agricola.

it may be a bit unkind of me to bring the following story back ...however,it is .."interesting":

Van Nevel is something of an excentric.... A couple of years ago (1994) he was caught stealing manuscripts from an italian library...

Based on a charge by the Museum of Musical Bibliography of Bologna,
Paul van Nevel is accused of having stolen various ancient musical
works and manuscripts; the Flemish musicologist proclaims his innocence
and is appealing the verdict of the Italian courts, which have sentenced
him in absentia* to 3 years and 4 months of jail. During a press
conference held on Aug. 4 in Brussels, he has stated that he had
acquired these editions "in good faith" on the Milanese market.
The Ghent Conservatory and the Instrument Museum of Brussels, to
whom van Nevel had sold said works, have returned them to Bologna.

Paul van Nevel, 48, fine musician, respected musicologist but
with a controversial personality, has led since 1970 the Ensemble Huelgas,
specialized in ancient music, and has released with them a series of
recordings on the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi label and later the
Sony Classical label, revealing unpublished music taken from the
manuscripts he discovered. Affiliated with one of the greatest
European institutions, the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, where
he has been appointed "life-professor," van Nevel had just been
appointed cultural ambassador of Flanders by his country. Denying
rumors of a flight for "an unknown destination," Paul van Nevel
has confirmed that he would go abroad for a series of masterclasses
in Spain.

[Jack Kelso]

Thanks very much for all the interesting information. They are very accomplished musicians indeed!

Jack

[Ralph]

Thanks very much for all the interesting information. They are very accomplished musicians indeed!

Jack

*****

Ditto.

[Corlyss_D]

The performers were "Il Canzoniere di Messer Francesco Petrarca" Huelgas Ensemble conducted by Paul van Nevel. They played works by Orlando di Lasso and Cipriano de Rore.

Welcome to the wonderful world of music before Bach!

As Peter notes, this is one of the most respected groups in the biz. Not that it matters a whit, but van Nevel took the name from one of the few collections of pilgrimage songs that got me interested in medieval music. The group has quite a few recordings out too, which means you don't have to go begging to find them. One I always recommend is their Utopia Triumphans if you have a good sound system.



Stand in the middle of the sound stream and just experience the incredible uplift of sound in the Tallis Spem in Alium. If you can get to Peter's link to see the photo, this is how they performed the Spem in Alium, standing in the round under the dome of a church. The quality of the sound was breathtaking. I've never heard anything like it. I see they have quite a few Renaissance discs available. You also might want to give a listen to Philip Pickett's New London Consort's Sinners and Saints.