Machaut

Machaut's Genius is fully recognized, but his monodic works deserve to be better known. He was the last trouvere, poet and composer, and with him died the monodic world of the learned composers of the west. His virelais, or 'chansons balladees' as he preferred to call them, have a trace of folk art about them, while being exquisitely wrought products of a writer of poetry and melodies so natural as to create an impression of utter effortlessness. They are songs to dance to, to hum to oneself, with frequent repeated sections and a compelling charm.

The Mass by Machaut is the earliest complete setting of the Mass text that we have. It was composed for performance in a specific church (in which this recording is made) for a specific occasion and has performance connections to the composer and his family. The performance is excellent and the recording quite clear, especially the mass, using the acoustic of a large stone church.

The Remède de Fortune is one of Machaut's most famous publications, combining musical scores into a larger poetic narrative. This performance includes instrumental improvisation in some selections.

Hearing or performing music comes closest in the range of human activity to a visceral connection to the past. As long as we have notation and knowledge of how to interpret it, we can effectively experience something like our ancestors did when they sang the same music. Of course, our 20th-century sensibilities and knowledge–or lack thereof–prevent us from sharing identical responses, but as with the music on this disc, when we hear it we are in some way transported to another place. We know a completely different sound world from our own; we know that the accepted order of certain things was different. And we also know that in many ways people haven't changed. Machaut's music conveys a spirituality–both joyful and contemplative–that's as true in its impact as it must have been 600 years ago, a point made ever so clearly by these especially vibrant and vital performances.

The titular ‘lion of nobility’ was (probably) King John II of France, making the most expansive work on this album a lament for a historical event: the French defeat at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. Elsewhere, Machaut’s protagonist continues to scrutinize the joys and sorrows of courtly love in obsessive detail.

The latest instalment in a series which continues to garner the highest critical plaudits. The Orlando Consort bring their customary virtues of ‘supreme text-sensitivity and beauty of tone’ (Early Music Today) to another recital showcasing the breadth of Machaut’s musical and poetic inventiveness.