musica Dei donum
Concert reviews
"Adieu Florens"
Sophia Faltas, mezzo-soprano;
Anna Danilevskaia, viola d'arco;
Emma-Lisa Roux, soprano, lute
concert: May 10, 2025, Zeist, Church of the Community of Moravian Brethren
Alexander AGRICOLA (1445/46-1506):
In mijnen sin;
anon:
Lagrime a voi sospiri;
Mijn morken gaf mij een jong wijf;
BARTOLOMEO DEGLI ORGANI (1474-1539):
Un dia lieto già mai;
Pietrequin BONNEL (fl late 15th C):
Adieu florens ma jolie;
Vincenzo CAPIROLA (1474-after 1548):
Ricercar VIII;
Marchetto CARA (c1465-1525):
Deh non più mo';
Oimè il cor, oimè la testa;
O mia cieca, e dura sorte;
Loyset COMPÈRE (c1445-1518):
Dittes moy toutes voz pensees;
Johannes GHISELIN (fl 1491-1507):
Weet ghy wat mynder jonghen herten deert;
GUGLIELMO EBREO DA PESARO (c1420-after 1484):
Falla con misuras;
Johannes JAPART (fl c1478-1481):
T'meiskin was jonck;
Johannes JAPART or JOSQUIN DESPREZ (c1450/55-1521):
Jay biens nouri;
Michele PESENTI (c1470-1528) & anon:
Che faralla che diralla / Uscirallo o resterallo;
Bartolomeo TROMBONCINO (1470-after 1534):
Vale diva, vale in pace;
Zephyro Spira
In the 15th century composers of the Franco-Flemish school started to dominate the European music scene, especially in the field of sacred music. They occupied positions at courts and in churches in France and Italy, and influenced composers from elsewhere. When in Italy, they wrote pieces on Italian texts. At the same time, Italian-born composers were also active at the various aristocratic courts, such as in Florence, Ferrara and Mantua. Venice can't be overlooked, especially as this was a centre of music printing. The main exponent of this industry was Ottavio Petrucci, who not only published music by Italian composers, but also by representatives of the Franco-Flemish school, such as Josquin Desprez.
For a tour across the Netherlands the mezzo-soprano Sophia Faltas had put together a programme in which these aspects of European music-life from around 1500 were brought together. I heard the concert that took place at the Church of the Moravian Brethren in Zeist. The audience was disappointingly small, which may well be due to the fact that Faltas is a young artist at the start of her career, who is not that well-known yet. On the other hand, the repertoire at the concert was intended for performance in an intimate surrounding, and that was also the way in which the programme was performed. The church was the perfect venue for such performances, as the audience is pretty close to the performers and the acoustic is ideal for chamber music.
The programme was a mixture of vocal and instrumental pieces by Italian and Franco-Flemish composers. One of the genres that was represented was the frottola, a secular song that could take several different poetic forms, and was the predecessor of what was to become the most important secular vocal genre: the madrigal. The two main composers of such pieces were Bartolomeo Tromboncino and Marchetto Cara. Both worked in Mantua, the former also in Ferrara. The frottolas performed during the concert consisted of several stanzas, always ending with a refrain of two lines. They are usually set for three or four voices, but could be performed in different ways. What we got here - one voice and two instruments - was a conventional way of performing such pieces, as would later be the case with madrigals. A performance by a single voice allows for an optimal intelligibility of the text, and that was here also due to Sophia Faltas' clear diction. The accompaniment by Anna Danilevskaia and Emma-Lisa Roux suited the repertoire and effectively supported the voice.
The Flemish part of the programme was represented by Johannes Ghiselin, Johannes Japart and Alexander Agricola. It seems unlikely that pieces on a Dutch text were sung in Italy, but when they were known there, partly thanks to the printed editions of Petrucci, they may have been performed instrumentally. Here we heard them in their original form, with text. In most cases the composers were not the creators of such songs, which may have had their origin in traditional music (and handed down orally), but were responsible for polyphonic settings. These then could deliver the material for parody masses. Such songs are performed by ensembles for renaissance music from across the world, but it is nice when they are performed by an artist whose native language is Dutch, and who can understand the texts and pronounce them correctly. Sophia Faltas sang Japart's T'meiskin was jonck with a low voice, imitating the man who was the protagonist. That was nicely done, but I can't see any reason for that. In the renaissance and baroque periods there was no direct connection between the gender of a protagonist and the tessitura of the role he/she was to sing.
One may be surprised to see some French names in the programme: Loyset Compère and Pietrequin Bonnel. However, the musical landscape in the early 16th century was truly international, and there was no antagonism between Frech and Italian music, as in the second half of the 17th century. French composers worked sometimes in Italy, and that also goes for the two included in the programme.
The vocal pieces alternated with instrumental works, or vocal items performed instrumentally. The latter was a very common practice: a large part of what instrumentalists or ensembles played at the time, was vocal music. Hence an instrumental performance of Marchetto Cara's frottola Deh nnon più mo', for instance. The ricercar (Capirola) was one of the popular genres of purely instrumental music of the renaissance.
According to the programme the performers were a singer, a player of the viola d'arco and a lutenist. However, there was a little surprise: Emma-Lisa Roux is not only a player of the lute, but also a singer, who in recitals sometimes accompanies herself. She contributed in the latter role here too: in the last stanza of Jay biens nori by Japart or Josquin, and in Un dia lieto già mai she joined Sophia Faltas, whereas in Che faralla che diralla / Uscirallo o resterallo (apparently a compilation of two pieces by Michele Pesenti and an anonymous master) a kind of dialogue was created by the two voices. Emma-Louise Roux showed that she has a very fine voice too.
Sophia Faltas may not be that well-known as yet, but she will be. She has already made a good start, and works with established ensembles such as Vox Luminis, which is telling. I like her voice, the way she sings and her approach to music. For the repertoire she had selected she has the perfect voice. She had the good fortune of having two outstanding colleagues at her side. These three ladies are a winning combination. I hope they will continue working together. This concert was an impressive demonstration of their skills, together and individually.
The audience received the performances with enthusiasm, which was rewarded with a song I recognized. Too bad that I could not identify it, but I could not get it out of my head for the rest of the evening.
Johan van Veen (© 2025)