musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Lambert DE SAYVE (1548 - 1614): "Ad Vesperas"
Ensemble Polyharmonique (Alexander Schneider);
Concerto Imperiale (Fabien Moulaert)
rec: Oct 20 - 22, 2021, Stavelot, Église Saint-Sébastien; Feb 25, 2022, Liège, Église Saint-Jacques
Musique en Wallonie - MEW 2201 (© 2022) (69'03")
Liner-notes: E/D/F/NL; lyrics - translations: E/D/F/NL
Cover, track-list & booklet
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[in order of appearance]
Andrea GABRIELI (1532/33-1585):
Toccataa;
plainchant:
Deus in adiutorium;
Gilles HAYNE (1590-1650):
Ave Maria;
Matthieu ROSMARIN (Mateo ROMERO) (c1575-1647):
Dixit Dominus a 8;
plainchant:
In odorem;
Lambert DE SAYVE:
Laetatus sum a 8;
plainchant:
Cum essem parvula;
Lambert COOLEN (c1579/81-1654):
O gloriosa mater;
Peter PHILIPS (1560/61-1628):
Fantasiaa;
Henri DE REMOUCHAMPS (bef. 1580-1638 or earlier):
Salve matrona nobilissima Anna;
plainchant:
Speciosa facta es;
Lambert DE SAYVE:
Nisi Dominus a 8;
plainchant:
Beata mater;
Lambert COOLEN:
O dulcissima mater a 8;
plainchant:
Dignare me;
Lambert DE SAYVE:
Lauda Jerusalem Dominum a 8;
O admirabile commercium;
Jan Pieterszoon SWEELINCK (1562-1621):
Échoa;
plainchant:
Beatam me;
Lambert DE SAYVE:
Magnificat a 8;
plainchant:
Concede nos famulos;
Benedicamus Domino;
Léonard DE HODEMONT (c1575-1536):
Salve Regina a 8;
Lambert COOLEN:
Ecce panis angelorum a 8;
Tantum ergo
Sources:
Lambert de Sayve, Sacrae Symphoniae, 1612;
Liber Fratrum Cruciferorum Leodiensium, 1617;
Le Grand livre de choeur de la cathédrale Saint-Lambert, 1645
[EP] Magdalene Harer, Joowon Chung, soprano;
Alexander Schneider, Andrea Gavagnin, alto;
Johannes Gaubitz, Sören Richter, tenor;
Matthias Lutze, Cornelius Uhle, bass;
Klaus Eichhorn, organ
[CI]
Frithjof Smith, cornett;
Luise Manske, dulcian;
Daniel Serafini, Raphaël Robyns, Joren Elsen, sackbut;
Fabien Moulaert, sackbut, organ (soloa)
The name of Lambert de Sayve may not ring a bell with most lovers of renaissance music. Although he is the only composer mentioned at the frontispiece of the disc under review here, he is only one of several composers whose music is included in the programme. This disc rather brings us to Liège in the first half of the 17th century, when the town was a centre of religious and - as a result of it - musical activities. Émile Corswarem opens his liner-notes thus: "In the 17th century the city of Liège, capital of an enormous diocese and of a principality within the Empire, was described as a 'priests' paradise' on account of its imposing cathedral, its seven collegiate churches, about thirty parish churches, and its numerous abbeys and monasteries. The chapter of St Lambert's Cathedral, composed of some sixty canons, constituted
one of the most important and richest of the Empire. Invested with the right to elect the bishop, it was able to control the powers of this ecclesiastical dignitary, who was also its prince."
The music that was performed was mostly from the pen of local choirmasters. The main source of the programme put together for this recording, is the Grand livre de chœur de Saint-Lambert, which may have been copied around 1645 and is now preserved in the library of the Liège Conservatoire. However, Lambert da Sayve never was choirmaster in Liège. He was born there but entered the imperial chapel in Vienna as a choirboy in 1562. He later became singing master at Melk Abbey, and also worked for some time in Graz. In 1612 he became master of the imperial chapel. The inclusion of his music can be justified from the fact that he sent a copy of his Sacrae Symphoniae, published in 1612, to the canons of the cathedral, where he may have received his first musical education. Another composers who did not work in Liège was Matthieu Rosmarin, who is better known as Mateo Romero; he worked in Spain under Philip II. Gilles Haynes worked in Liège, but not at Saint-Lambert.
The programme comprises, as the title of the disc indicates, music for Vespers, but it is not a kind of reconstruction. The pieces are connected to different feasts of the ecclesiastical year. Some items are for the feast day of St Anne, who was a popular saint, not only in Liège. The second section of the choirbook mentioned above is devoted to pieces for her feast day by Lambert Coolen. This section also includes Salve matrona nobilissima Anna by Henri de Remouchamps, who may have been a choirboy at St Lambert Cathedral, but was from 1625 first second organist and then choirmaster at St Paul's Cathedral. The motet performed here is the only extant piece from his pen. It is, as most pieces on this disc, scored for eight voices in two choirs and basso continuo.
It shows the influence of the Italian cori spezzati technique. The use of a basso continuo should not be overrated, because the organ mainly plays the lowest vocal part; it is rather a basso seguente. Other Italian influences in the music on this disc are text expression and a declamatory text setting; an example is Lauda, Jerusalem, Dominum by Sayve. On the other hand, there are also pieces which are written in the strict stile antico, such as Rosmarin's Dixit Dominus, which is mostly homorhythmic. Basically, the music performed here represents the late Renaissance rather than the early Baroque.
As far as the composers are concerned, Léonard de Hodemont may be the best-known (apart from Romero). In 1619 he became maître de chant at the Cathedral and carried out a modernization of music, with performance of polychoral works and pieces for solo voices and basso continuo; the cathedral also had instruments at its disposal, such as cornetts, bassoons and organs. It seems that he was a little ahead of his time, which caused concern among the canons; in 1633 he was dismissed. He was temporarily succeeded by Coolen. It is interesting to note that Hodemont influenced Henri du Mont, who would play a key role in the development of sacred music at the court of Louis XIV.
As one may have noted, the programme also includes three organ pieces. They are taken from a manuscript preserved at the library of Liège University. It comprises 54 organ pieces of a non-liturgical nature, divided into two categories: Fantasias and Echoes. The two pieces included here are taken from this manuscript and don't appear elsewhere. Unfortunately the booklet does not specify the identity of the these pieces, which makes it impossible to find them in the catalogues of the respective composers.
The performances raise two questions. First, Latin is pronounced as it was common in Italy, but I wonder whether that was the way it was pronounced in the southern Netherlands. Recordings of renaissance polyphony by ensembles which have done some research in this matter, suggest otherwise. Second, all polyphonic pieces are performed here by voices with instruments playing colla voce. As has been noted, Liège Cathedral did own instruments, and that may justify their use here. However, the availability of instruments does not imply that they were used indiscriminately. I would have liked to hear some pieces being sung a capella.
That does not take anything away from my appreciation of this disc. The singing and playing is glorious, and the music is of excellent quality. It is surprising that so little of the likes of Sayve and Coolen is available on disc. Recently I heard a performance of polyphony by composers who were connected to Antwerp Cathedral (Huelgas Ensemble at the festival Laus Polyphoniae 2023); the programme included pieces by several composers who are hardly known. We have here a comparable concept and that is very interesting and stimulating, especially if it comprises music by composers who did not make an international career. Rather than a portrait of Lambert de Sayve, as the title suggests, this disc is a survey of music life in Liège in the first half of the 17th century.
The booklet is of the usual standard: liner-notes in four languages (in this case some proofreading of the English version would not have been amiss) and lyrics with translations in the same languages, as well as a list of the sources.
Johan van Veen (© 2023)
Relevant links:
Ensemble Polyharmonique
Concerto Imperiale