Polyphony

Stephen Rice and The Brabant Ensemble uncover more Renaissance treasures: Jacob Obrecht’s name may now be less familiar than those of some of his Flemish contemporaries, yet in his lifetime he was considered second only to Josquin.

The Torino Ms J.II.9 codex, kept in the National University Library of Turin, is a sumptuous manuscript consisting of 159 sheets, each measuring 377x270 mm. We may safely assume that the person responsible for putting together the musical works of this codex was a Frenchman resident at the Court of the Lusignan family long enough for the codex to be completed; the period in question must have been sometime between 1413 and 1430 CE.

After The War was initiated by Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial, and recorded at Rancom St Studios in Sydney with Garth Porter (Producer). This album commemorates and honours the men and women who are serving, and have served our country; and coincides with the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Armistice on 11th November 1918, the end of The Great War. The album spans from Gallipoli and Passchendaele, to the sinking of HMAS Canberra in 1942 in the waters off Savo Island, to the Battle of Long Tan in a rubber plantation in Vietnam, and the blurred and dusty battle lines of Afghanistan. The songs have been brought to life by the contributions of talented and generous artists who have all donated their royalties to veteran services under the direction of the Australian War Memorial.

Although there has always been some uproar about transcribing Bach's music, especially his keyboard music to piano, I see the Bach transcriptions as an eloquent homage to the old master. Arrangements and transcriptions have been made for over two hundred years and for the reason that Bach's music will always be effective on other mediums. Busoni and Godowsky were perhaps the greatest transcribers, with Liszt following closely behind. The piano is such a versatile instrument and can please both the Baroque enthusiasts and the Romantic lovers. Only the piano can imitate the fleeting polyphony and yet transform the music with sonorous beauty.

Performances of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245, with these forces or close to them have become an annual Eastertime tradition in London, and this recording is guaranteed an appreciative audience. Certain details relate specifically to this tradition: several chorales are sung unaccompanied, but an accompanied version is included at the end for those who reject the dramatization.