Pierre de la Rue

These first reissues in Virgin Veritas’s new Hilliard Edition mark a belated tribute to one of the most enduring names of the early music scene, and the long-awaited return to the catalogue of some of its finest work. English music often has the knack of bringing out the best in The Hilliard Ensemble, so it is appropriate that three of the present batch of discs are devoted to the period when English music was at its most influential, the early- to mid-fifteenth century. Last year’s Gramophone Early Music Award, given to a recording of the music of John Dunstable by the Orlando Consort (Metronome, 2/96), was actually the second time the composer has been so honoured: The Hilliards’ disc won the award in 1984. Nearly 15 years on, it is more than worthy to stand alongside its successor.

These first reissues in Virgin Veritas’s new Hilliard Edition mark a belated tribute to one of the most enduring names of the early music scene, and the long-awaited return to the catalogue of some of its finest work. English music often has the knack of bringing out the best in The Hilliard Ensemble, so it is appropriate that three of the present batch of discs are devoted to the period when English music was at its most influential, the early- to mid-fifteenth century. Last year’s Gramophone Early Music Award, given to a recording of the music of John Dunstable by the Orlando Consort (Metronome, 2/96), was actually the second time the composer has been so honoured: The Hilliards’ disc won the award in 1984. Nearly 15 years on, it is more than worthy to stand alongside its successor.

The relatively rare Masses that celebrate saints other than the Virgin Mary were usually composed in response to an individual’s or an institution’s particular devotional interest. There is good reason to believe that Nicolas Champion composed his Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena expressly for Margaret of Austria, whose devotion to Mary Magdalene is well known. Champion (c. 1475-1533) worked for the Habsburg-Burgundian chapel from 1501 to 1524; this Mass was probably written between 1507 and 1515.

Eric Sleichim & Bl!ndman - Bl!ndman Collected (2013) {7CD Set Warner Classics 5099944427726 rec 1992-2006}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.88 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 990 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 213 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1992-2006, 2013 Parlophone Music Belgium / Warner Classics | 5099944427726
Jazz / Classical / Saxophone / Classical Crossover / Early Music / Renaissance / Medieval / Avant-Garde / Contemporary

BL!NDMAN’s approach to early music using modern instrumentation seeks to achieve a reformative transformation, rather than an exact imitation. For the past 20 years, BL!NDMAN has been constantly engaged in the search for a saxophone sound that throws new light on old music. Central to this is timbre, as is the way in which the tone can be consciously influenced by the whole body, even the voice box. This 7-CD set charts their extraordinary journey.

lexander Agricola, the quincentenary of whose death fell in 2006, is not over-represented in the catalogue so this disc, then, is very welcome. Fretwork take hold of this frequently unpredictable music (all but one of the pieces are performed in new editions by composer Fabrice Fitch) with confidence. They produce performances of exuberance, proving that what a contemporary of the composer called his 'bizarre and crazy manner', as Fitch notes, can either be subverted or assumed to be, in fact, less crazy than it might appear and give impressive musical results.