Ockeghem Chansons (

Intimacy, intensity, passion this album explores the unfamiliar idea that fifteenth-century songs might cause us to sigh, weep, or laugh out loud. In bringing to life a world in which crying in public was not just acceptable but required, we have to take seriously the crushing despair of a line like My only sorrow is that I am not dead, or the undisguised sarcasm of This is how she chopped and cooked me up. In Johannes Ockeghem's (d. 1497) roughly two-dozen songs we find not only unparalleled compositional prowess, but feelings that range from happiness to loss, anger to despair, and bitterness to merriment. The album's all-vocal, fully texted, close-mic'd performances are rooted in a flexible, full-blooded vocal technique that aims to capture the music's technical brilliance and emotional depth.

From Ockeghem born around 1420 to Lassus dead in 1594 via Josquin des Prés, this 8-CD collection presents almost two centuries of masterworks from one of the most extraordinary musical school, that could be compared to the Italian Renaissance in architecture or painting. The Hilliard Ensemble, founded by Paul Hillier in 1974 has championed this music with all the virtues of their instantly recognizable style and with a clarity and cleanness of timbre that are matchless.

Firminus Caron (ca. 1440 – ca. 1475) - Masses & Chansons - The Sound and The Fury (2013) {3CD fra bernardo Digital Download fb 1207302}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download -> 996 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 456 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2013 fra bernardo | fb 1207302
Classical / Renaissance / Sacred / Vocal / Lute

From the list of his surviving compositions and the number of their sources, Firmin Caron was clearly highly esteemed in the second half of the fifteenth century, particularly as a composer of French chansons. Most sources of his works are of Italian provenance; nonetheless the oldest French sources, from around 1470, leave little doubt that the composer himself was a Frenchman. Born around 1440 in Amiens and probably trained at the choir school, he developed his original musical language there under the stylistic influence of Guillaume Dufay.

Johannes Ockeghem - Missa 'De plus en plus' - Orlando Consort (2010) {Brilliant Classics 94073 rec 1996}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 302 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 174 Mb
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© 1996, 2010 Deutsche Grammophon / Brilliant Classics | 94073
Classical / Medieval / Renaissance / Early Music / Sacred / Polyphony

Considering that he was one of the most celebrated composers in the 15th Century, we don’t seem to know a lot about Johannes Ockeghem; his exact birth-date, birth location and early training are all uncertain. He left behind a significant musical record and when he died in 1497 his death was marked by compositions from some of the greatest composers of the time.

Kaiser Maximilian I. - Lieder, Chansons, Tänze - Per-Sonat, Sabine Lutzenberger (2019) {Christophorus CHR 77438}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 324 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 152 Mb
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© 2019 Christophorus | CHR 77438
Classical / Renaissance / Period Instruments

The 500th anniversary of the death of Emperor Maximilian I this year is the occasion for several exhibitions and also for the programme of the ensemble Per-Sonat's new release. Maximilian, who was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1508, was a great patron of the arts in addition to his warlike activities. Here the music was in his special interest and he brought the most important musicians of his time to his court: Heinrich Isaac, Josquin des Pres, Paul Hofhaimer and Johannes Ockeghem. The artistic sacred music for Emperor Maximilian has already been widely published. The ensemble Per-Sonat, directed by Sabine Lutzenberger, consists exclusively of leading heads of the early music scene and now turns to secular music at Maximilian's court: the songs, chansons and dances that document the emperor's love of music in a new way.

Johannes Ockeghem (c.1430-c.1495) - Masses - Beauty Farm (2017) {fra bernardo Digital Download fb1701743}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download (qobuz.com) -> 326 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 148 Mb
Full Artwork (jpg+pdf) -> 6 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2017 fra bernardo | fb 1701743
Classical / Renaissance / Early Music / Sacred / Polyphony / Masses

Beauty Farm founded 2014 by Markus Muntean and Bernhard Trebuch is a vocal group focused to the Franco-Flemish polyphony of the renaissance. The international ensemble is based in the carthusian monastery at Mauerbach (Austria). The singers are members of well known ensembles. Beauty Farm exclusively records for frabernardo. Going back to the roots Beauty Farms reveals the secrets of polyphonic masterpieces …

Alexander Agricola (1446-1506) is little known outside the circle of "early music" connoisseurs, among whom he has cult stature as one of the most original and 'difficult' composers of the Burgundian/Franco-Flemish Renaissance. He was already a 'musician's composer' in his own lifetime, the subtlest exponent of the 'new' manner of composition that no longer assembled the lines of polyphony in ad hoc sequence from the 'tenor' outwards but instead conceived the music in toto from the start.

Josquin Desprez is widely recognized as the greatest of the Renaissance master musicians. He set the standard for the various compositional techniques borrowed and utilized by most composers of his generation and beyond, and became an iconic figure whose art captivated musicians and scholars for centuries. This recording centres around some of Josquin’s earliest works, and, in particular, his fascination with the D’ung aultre amer rondeau composed by his teacher Johannes Ockeghem. Also included are some of his most popular motets and chansons performed here by a solo voice (Clare Wilkinson) with renaissance harp (Andrew Lawrence-King).