The final concert of this year’s instalment of the Barbara Maria Willi Presents series offered a unique project that on 4 December brought together two ensembles in the Convent of the Brothers of Mercy: Cappella Pratensis and Ramillete de Tonos. They showed the audience the many different ways in which one can work with the polyphonic repertoire of the 15th and 16th centuries. The programme intertwined sacred and secular music, and purely vocal, vocal-instrumental and purely instrumental pieces.
The concert was remarkable for the works performed: the central composition of the evening was the Mass Dictes moy toutes vos pensées by Jean Mouton (1459–1522), preserved in two important manuscripts. The first is stored in Den Bosch, the Netherlands, while the other belongs to the library of the parish church of St. James and is deposited in the Brno City Archives. Brno audiences were also given the unique opportunity to “peek into” the manuscript in real time during the performance, as its pages were projected onto a screen throughout. Mouton’s setting of the Ordinary is based on the chanson Dictes moy toutes vos pensées (Tell Me All Your Thoughts) by the French composer Loyset Compère (1445–1518), which opened the concert. The performance of this piece was built on contrasts that permeated the entire evening. Some verses were purely instrumental – performed by lutenist Kateřina Maňáková and flautist Dante Jongerius – while other passages were sung by Andrew Hallock.
The first composition was followed by the Kyrie from Mouton’s Mass. The purely vocal sections, sung by Cappella Pratensis – Andrew Hallock and Tim Braithwaite (superius), Lior Leibovici (altus), Peter de Laurentiis (tenor) and Marc Busnel and Jonty Coy (bassus) – alternated with intabulated sections (i.e. transcribed into lute tablature). This so-called alternatim practice – in this case the alternation of vocal and instrumental renditions of sections of the same work – provided another layer of contrast. Interspersed between the individual movements of Mouton’s Mass were instrumental compositions by Miguel de Fuenllana and Enríquez de Valderrábano. In the final Agnus Dei, the vocal and instrumental strands came together again.
Both the vocal and instrumental pieces were performed throughout the evening from historical notation and tablature, and this was reflected in the way Cappella Pratensis were positioned on stage. The singers stood clustered around a large choirbook placed on a music stand. Compared to modern materials, the notation differs not only in the note shapes themselves, but also in the layout of the individual parts.
In today’s scores, the staves of the parts are written one beneath the other, so it is absolutely clear at any given moment “where” in the composition one is. Historical scores were constructed differently: each part was written in a separate segment containing the entire line (in this case four voices = four segments). In contrast to a modern choral score, this notation requires the performers to make real-time decisions about matters such as the placement of the text or unwritten accidentals. The singers of Cappella Pratensis therefore had to demonstrate, in addition to the usual requirements such as intonation, blend and so on, a substantial command of the musical theory of the period. The ensemble clearly proved that they are well versed even in this aspect: their interpretation was excellent. There were no intonational mishaps, the sound was well balanced and all the voices were clearly audible. Their ensemble cohesion was flawless and, thanks to physical contact and gestures derived from historical practice, Cappella Pratensis played with subtle tempo nuances that added further polish to the performance.
The instrumental component of the evening was equally impressive. With the exception of the final Agnus Dei, the instrumentalists played at a table on the left side of the stage – adding an extra layer of acoustic variety to the already strong contrast between instrumental and vocal music. Like the singers, the musicians played together superbly. The duo shaped phrasing and dynamics with great care, and the occasional omission of the recorder introduced yet another sonic contrast. Over the course of the concert, Dante Jongerius switched between several flutes and, together with Kateřina Maňáková, consistently ensured that neither instrument was lost in the overall sound nor dominated it unduly. As with the singers, the instrumental duo performed from historical sources, and everything said above applies here as well.
From a dramaturgical point of view, the evening was constructed with great care. The alternation of vocal and instrumental, and sacred and secular music created the effective, repeatedly mentioned contrasts that made Thursday’s concert richly varied for listeners and perfectly suited to the space of the Brothers of Mercy hall, a natural meeting point for the sacred and the secular. The attractive programming was underpinned by some outstanding musical performances, all the more admirable given that they were delivered from historical materials.
Loyset Compère: Dictes moy toutes vos pensées (Tell Me All Your Thoughts)
Jean Mouton: Mass Dictes moy toutes vos pensées – Kyrie
Miguel de Fuenllana: Fantasía from the collection Orphénica Lyra
Jean Mouton: Mass Dictes moy toutes vos pensées - Gloria
Miguel de Fuenllana: Fantasía from the collection Orphénica Lyra
Jean Mouton: Mass Dictes moy toutes vos pensées - Credo
Diminutions on the theme Dictes moy toutes vos pensées
Jean Mouton: Mass Dictes moy toutes vos pensées - Sanctus
Miguel de Fuenllana: Fantasía from the collection Orphénica Lyra
Enríquez de Valderrábano: Fantasía from the collection Silva de Sirenas
Jean Mouton: Mass Dictes moy toutes vos pensées - Agnus Dei
Cappella Pratensis
Andrew Hallock, Tim Braithwaite (artistic director) - superius
Lior Leibovici - viola
Peter de Laurentiis - tenor
Marc Busnel, Jonty Coy - bassus
Ramillete de Tonos
Dante Jongerius - Renaissance flutes
Kateřina Maňáková (artistic director) - vihuela de mano
Thursday 4 December at 7 p.m., Monastery of the Brothers of Mercy, Brno
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