“In memoriam: Commemoration Motets of the Renaissance” is the second disc of The Lacock Scholars, a London-based consort of young singers (originally from Andrew van der Beek’s Lacock courses) who are dedicated to small-ensemble a-cappella singing of Renaissance music and plainsong. Greg Skidmore is the ensemble’s music director. Forming the connecting thread throughout this recording is the fact that each of the motets was written by one composer in memory of another.
The text of Johannes Ockeghem’s motet-chanson “Mort tu as navré”, a lamentation probably written in 1460 on the death of Burgundian chanson composer Gilles Binchois, suggests Ockeghem’s personal acquaintance with Binchois. Whether or not Binchois had been his teacher is not known: Ockeghem’s motet, however, supplies some biographical detail on Binchois - that he had been a soldier, later choosing to serve the church. In this heartfelt tribute, its sophisticated writing offering the upper voice in French with the tenor singing a sequence from the Missa pro defunctis in Latin, the piece’s musical language bears reference to Binchois’ own chanson style. The Lacock Scholars create the appropriate mood, with each refrain emerging increasingly more moving in its message as the tenor sings "Pie Jesu, Domine, dona ei requiem." ("Blessed Lord Jesus, grant him peace.") Josquin des Prez, who probably studied with Ockeghem in his youth, mourns the master in “Nymphes des bois / La déploration sur la mort de Johannes Ockeghem” to a text by Jean Molinet; it alludes to Ockeghem in puns, assonance, and alliteration, infusing some of the stylistic hallmarks of his teacher’s style (as did Ockeghem in his memorial piece to Binchois) and even listing some mourners by name. The singers give expression to the work’s Phrygian mode colouring, weaving melodic lines unadulterated by vibrato into the piece’s reverence and tension. Completing this thread is the six-voice motet “Musae Jovis” composed by Nicolas Gombert in memory of Josquin des Prez, with whom he had probably studied. Gombert’s mention of the divine muses as the source of artistic inspiration leads him to write a unique, otherworldly piece, its seamless course enlisting daring dissonances as an expressive effect. The Lacock Scholars master the work’s unusual texture, the soprano voice floating symbolically in silvery weightlessness way above the other voices which are engaged in dark-hued contrapuntal writing, all this making for beguiling listening and a poignant expression of grief. Remaining in the Low Countries, we hear “Continuo lacrimas” a six-voice motet by Jacobus Vaet, written in memory of Jacobus Clemens non Papa, the latter having been one of the most famous representatives of the Franco-Flemish school; he died in 1555 or 1556. The singers handle the complexities of this veritable jewel with crystalline articulacy, their intonation and brightness of timbre indeed creating an effect of fluid, magical simplicity.
Then, to great English composers of the Renaissance, the recording includes “Ye sacred muses”, William Byrd’s haunting lament on the death of his mentor, colleague (and business partner) Thomas Tallis. Not a motet but a secular consort song, the singers re-create its poignant solemnity and growing anguish, its rich, madrigalian harmonies and passing dissonances, with smooth melodiousness and exquisitely vibrant timbres, culminating in the extended repetition of the final phrase: “Tallis is dead and music dies.” Thomas Weelkes composed “Death hath deprived me” in 1608 in memory of his friend and colleague Thomas Morley, who died in 1602. A striking example of Weelkes’ weightier, more Italianate style, his daring use of harmony and strongly-depicted words and phrases, for me, the performance of this piece is a highlight of the disc, presenting the Lacock Scholars’ superb teamwork, sense of drama and glowing intensity of sound.
The disc’s central work is by Duarte Lôbo (c.1565-1646), one of the leading exponents of the Portuguese polyphonic style. His six-voice “Missa pro defunctis” (1639) takes Victoria's famous six-voice Requiem as a model, setting the traditional chant melodies in long notes in one of the soprano parts, accompanied by richly-hued chords rather than imitative counterpoint. One of the composer’s later works, its writing nevertheless harks back to the sonorous and contrapuntal idiom of his earlier years. The Requiem abounds in soft modal colours, its tender colouring (influenced by the choice of C(S)AATTB voices) producing funeral music that is reflective but certainly not dour. The Lacock Scholars’ performance of it takes the listener into the verbal- and musical texts with superbly shaped melodic lines soaring high and melting away, into the beauty of a single melodic line, the lushness of its harmonies and the meaning of its dissonances, all brought together with superbly clean intonation and strategic pacing. With the timeless effect of the pared-down four-voice Responsory Memento mei, the singers present a carefully-paced conclusion to the work, the church’s acoustic endorsing its devout message. On this recording, the movements of Lobo's piece are punctuated by the other above-mentioned single-movement memorial works.
When it comes to creativity and musings, nothing has been more inspiring than death, promoting some of the most beautiful and personal human artistic expression. Performed by this outstanding ensemble of young, hand-picked singers, “In memoriam: Commemoration Motets of the Renaissance” is no exception. Recorded in January 2018 at All Hallows’ Gospel Oak, London, UK (producer: William Whitehead, engineer: David Hinitt), the disc’s sound quality is lively and pristine. Canadian-born baritone Greg Skidmore, one of the UK's leading consort singers, is regularly heard with such groups as The Tallis Scholars, I Fagiolini, The Gabrieli Consort and Alamire. Having studied for a DPhil at Oxford before pursuing full-time professional singing and conducting work in London, his interest in the history and complexity of Christian liturgy has been enriched by his own singing with the choir of The London Oratory. Greg Skidmore has held workshops on Renaissance polyphonic repertoire in the UK, France, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
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| Maestro Greg Skidmore (photo: Jamie Wright) |
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