2019 will see the 500th commemoration of the death of one of the greatest geniuses humanity has produced: Leonardo da Vinci, scientist, inventor, painter and musician.
Doulce Mémoire, having devoted themselves to Renaissance music for the past 30 years, have decided to pay homage to Leonardo. Their founder-director, Denis Raisin Dadre, an eminent specialist in the music of the period and a great lover of pictorial art, has devised an original programme: Rather than just make music from the time of Leonardo, I've taken my cue from the paintings themselves.I've worked on what could be the hidden music of these pictures, what musical pieces might be suggested by them…
A Concert of Renaissance Music played on instruments designed by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). This recording is an adventure through music which brings us closer to one of the most brilliant and unsettling characters in history. Leonardo da Vinci worked in nearly all the branches of knowledge that existed at his time, including music, although he is best known as the artist who painted the Gioconda or the Last Supper in Milan. He was a painter, draughtsman, sculptor, engineer, architect, musician, philosopher and inventor. He personified the great Renaissance era more than almost anybody else.
Concierto de Música Europea del Siglo XV interpretado en el extraordinario Órgano de Papel de Leonardo da Vinci. Played by master organist and organ builder Joaquin Saura, accompanied by Grupo Música Antigua under the direction of Eduardo Paniagua. With all the information on the instrument, the program CD, an historical sketch of the times, the unpublished story of the alchemical experiment of Antorques de Plasencia, Josquin of Asura and canon Don Juan de Espina, and other curiosities and news. Made for the Exhibition "Leonardo y La Música" (PDF of the Event, included)
Nowadays, the Italian repertory of fifteenth-century secular music is better known through the reworkings of visiting foreigners like Isaac and Josquin than by the home-grown article. This recording introduces some of those native idioms and composers: the famous Scaramella tune made famous by Compere and Josquin (assuming that setting is his) appears in its original, monophonic guise; elsewhere, two songs by the frottolist Marchetto Cara set the tone. As with Italian music of later periods, polyphonic textures are deliberately played down to allow for the maximum projection and embellishment of the principal line. A number of non-vocal pieces attest to the preoccupation with instrumental virtuosity, represented by such figures as the lutenist Serafino. Sirinu have been active on the concert circuit for a number of years, but this disc marks their debut as recording artists. The programme is varied, the choice of instrumental combinations judicious and spirited, and the performers’ lightness of touch rests as easily on the ear as the music itself. Lightness is indeed the chief attribute of Sara Stowe’s singing, shown to best effect in pieces like Non e tempo d’aspectare, Scopri, lingua or the possibly scurrilous piece de resistance, Villana.