Release sheet

WINTER

The path that all interested listeners are about to follow leads to the deep and as yet not fully explored woodlands of the instrumental music of the latter half of the fifteenth century in or around southern Germany. It will zig-zag from one repertoire to another, from one manuscript to another, and of course from one ‘soundscape’ to another by presenting different combinations of instruments, in dialogue or simply allowing some of them stand alone to speak for themselves so that at the end of their sonic journey, listeners can fully enjoy a panoramic view of this rich and fascinating tradition.

The major part of the repertoire presented here is culled from three important manuscripts, all copied in the second half of the fifteenth century: the Buxheim organ book (Bux, ca. 1470), the Lochamer song book (Loch, ca. 1460), and the Glogauer partbooks (or Zagan partbooks, to use the title favoured in some recent studies). All three of the books are treasure troves of delightful and unexpected discoveries. Among the composers presented in the French section of this recording are some of the most eminent and wellknown musicians of the fifteenth century: Guillaume Du Fay, Gilles Binchois, Antoine Busnois.

The works are interspersed with Buxheimer’s free instrumental improvisations, redeuntes and preambula. The former consist of a highly ornamented upper voice flowing against a sustained (or repeated) note in the lower, whereas the latter are essentially fantasia-like pieces divided into several parts with contrasting rhythms and textures. Although the rendition here is purely instrumental, words are constantly there at a subliminal level, creating yet another semantic and sonic layer – imperceptible, but always present in the background.

Tracklist

1. ANONYMOUS     Portigaler (after Guillaume Du Fay Or me veult bien Esperance mentir)

2. ANONYMOUS Redeuntes In Idem mi de eadem mensura

3. ANONYMOUS Ave stella matutina

4. JACOBUS VILETTI ein buer gein holtze

5. ANONYMOUS Se la phase pale (after Guillaume Du Fay Se la face ay pale)

6. ANONYMOUS Redeuntes In fa

7. ANONYMOUS Redeuntes In ut

8. ANONYMOUS Magnificat Octani toni

9. ANONYMOUS Sequuntur Redeuntes In Idem

10. ANTOINE BUSNOYS En soustenant vostre querelle

11. ANONYMOUS Praeambulum super f

12. ANONYMOUS Annavasanna (upon anon. Une foys avant que morir)

13. ANONYMOUS Der Winter will hin wichen

14. ANONYMOUS Christus surrexit mala nostra texit…

15. ANONYMOUS Bohu svému krali nebeskému

16. ANONYMOUS Ich sah ein bild in blauwer weyt

17. ANONYMOUS Gross senen

18. ANTOINE BUSNOYS A vous sans aultre

19. ANONYMOUS Verlangen tut mich krencken

20. ANONYMOUS Ich sachs eyns mols den lichten morgensterne

21. ANONYMOUS Adyen matres belle (upon Gilles de Bins dit Binchois Adieu mes tres belles amours)

22. ANONYMOUS Redeuntes In la

23. ANONYMOUS Parleregart/Ad huc semel (after Guillaume Du Fay Par le regart de vos beaulx yeulx)

24. ANONYMOUS Qui vult messite  (after Gilles de Bins dit Binchois Qui veut mesdire)

25. ANONYMOUS Praeambulum super sol

      ANONYMOUS Without title: (after anon J’ay pris amours a ma devise)

      ANONYMOUS Without title (Tenor: Kyrie Cunctipotens genitor Deus)