Agreements | Harmonia Ancient Music

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Welcome to Harmonia. . . I am Angela Mariani. Our hour-long program explores two pairs of complex expressive and substantive pieces of music. One is a pair of ballads on a mythical serpent: the first by Guillaume de Machaut, the second by Magister Franciscus. The other two pieces are motets by Antoine Busnois and Johannes Ockeghem, the first a tribute to Ockeghem, the second a motet without words. We will explore the relationship between the parts. Additionally, our featured release suggests a different genre “pairing†– serious and drinkable songs, on a 2021 Les Arts Florissants release, directed by William Christie.

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MUSICAL TRACK
Wait no longer for my eyes: Serious & drinking tunes Vol. 3
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Harmonia Mundi, 2021 / B08YL9NM9S
Antoine Boesset
Tr. 6 Hope no more (4:23)

Les Arts Florissant offered us this interpretation of “N’esperez plus mes yeux†by Antoine Boesset. This is the title song from our featured album, Don’t hope for my eyes anymore: Serious & Drinkable Airs Vol. 3, [“Wait no more, my eyes”, Serious and Drinking Airs vol.3]. This is one of the serious songs, the chorus of which translates, [quote] “Jealous of my happiness, the sky in its cruelty stole my Aurora as she appeared.” We’ll know more about this recording later in the hour.

We’ve titled this week’s episode “Pairingsâ€â€¦ because we’re listening to two pairs of closely related French songs, one from C14, the other from C15. The first is a pair of ballads, one by Guillaume de Machaut and the other by the mysterious Magister Franciscus; and the second is a pair of motets composed, without knowing in what order, by Antoine Busnois and Johannes Ockeghem.

Let’s start with our renaissance association.

Antoine Busnois wrote both the lyrics and the music of In hydraulis, a tribute to Johannes Ockeghem in which Busnois is also mentioned. The poet speaks at length about Pythagoras, considered at the time as the discoverer of music, citing the apocryphal legend of his discovery of the mathematical basis of musical intervals at the blacksmith’s forge, and dedicates the poem to [quote:] “You, Ockeghem, who sing these harmonies above all. Busnois then goes on to demonstrate his skill and understanding of Pythagorean principles by illustrating them in the composition in a way that reflects the Pythagorean ratios representing music in time and space:

He composes a slow tenor line with 3 notes [me singing a fifth and an octave] repeated backwards [me again] create a palindrome [me again]. The melody is repeated three times at three different speeds.

MUSICAL TRACK
In hydraulis & other works / Antoine Busnoys
Pomerium, Blachly
Dorian, 1993 / B000001Q9W
Antoine Busnois
Tr. 1 In hydraulic (7:11)

Very complex music, with a bewitching effect – Pomerium, conducted by Alexander Blachly, sang In hydraulis by Antoine Busnois, a tribute to Johannes Ockeghem. Ockeghem himself was a master of complicated music – witness his Mass to sing “in any mode”, or his Missa Prolationum, where 2 lines of music transform into simultaneous canons at varying intervals. But Ut heremita without text from Ockeghem [ER-eh-mee-ta] solus takes complexity to a whole new level. And it begins with the very melody that Busnois quotes in the second section of In hydraulis, in the text: “Toi, Ockeghemâ€. Let’s listen to Busnois again.

MUSICAL TRACK
In hydraulis & other works / Antoine Busnoys
Pomerium, Blachly
Dorian, 1993 / B000001Q9W
Antoine Busnois
Tr. 1 In hydraulis (Extract: play 3:11 and fade at 3:20) [:10]

And now, let’s listen to the overture to Ut heremita solus by Ockeghem.

(just play the first 8 seconds or so and fade)

MUSICAL TRACK
Sit down quickly
fretwork
Virgin Classics, 2006 / B000006DD1
Johannes Ockeghem
Tr. 13 – 14 Ut heremita solus (Extract: opening of play of about 8 seconds and crossfade)

Cool, isn’t it? Busnois and Ockeghem almost certainly met in Tours, where Ockeghem spent most of his prime. The patron saint of Antoine Busnois was Saint-Antoine – a hermit; “HER-e-mi-ta” in Latin – and each section of Ut heremita solus of Ockeghem contains 108 semi-breves, which is equivalent to the letters of “Busnoys”, according to the principles of numerology, another possible connection.

The three outer voices of the Ockeghems are syncopated and ornamental, often in very close imitation. And then there is the tenor part, one of the most mysterious canons in all music, an elaborate assortment of syllables, symbols and notes on the musical staff; a quotation from the Book of Job as “text”; and a series of enigmatic Latin puzzles. But what can the listener think of all this? Just let yourself be immersed in the song, played here by Fretwork.

MUSICAL TRACK
Sit down quickly
fretwork
Virgin Classics, 2006 / B000006DD1
Johannes Ockeghem
Tr. 13 – 14 Ut heremita solus (8:22)

We heard Johannes Ockeghem’s incredibly complex and strangely beautiful solus Ut heremita performed by Fretwork on their 2006 recording, Sit Fast.

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(Music Bed Theme: Alcatraz Ensemble, Royal Dance, Elektra Nonesuch 79240-2 / B000005J0B, T.12: La Prime Estampie Royal)

You can hear highlights from recent recordings and archives of early music concerts on Harmonia Uncut – our bi-weekly podcast, curated and hosted by Wendy Gillespie. Listen online at harmonia early music dot org and through iTunes.

You are listening to Harmonia. . . I am Angela Mariani.

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Mid-break:

MUSICAL TRACK: Sit Fast, Fretwork, Virgin Classics, 2006 / B000006DD1, Heinrich Isaac, Tr 3 O decus ecclesiae_2 (: 59 excerpt)

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Happy to see you again. We are listening this hour to two pairs of closely related French songs.

Our second pair of pieces is in the medieval French poetic form of the ballad, which has three lines and a particular pattern for textual and musical rhyme. The first ballad is by Guillaume de Machaut, and its title translates as “Python, the wonderful serpent”. Machaut had read Ovid, whose Metamorphoses recount the birth of the serpent Python and his death by a thousand arrows by Phoebus Apollo. Machaut uses the story to create an allegory in which he compares the cruelty of the serpent with that of the elusive lover.

Let’s listen to the Orlando Consort’s version of Machaut’s ballad – let’s see if you can hear three verses, each about two minutes and thirty seconds long.

MUSICAL TRACK
The sting of love
Orlando Consort
Hyperion, 2015 / B00QKYTS58
Guillaume de Machaut
Tr. 5 Phyton, The Marvelous (7:42)

The Orlando Consort sang Phyton the wonderful serpent by Guillaume de Machaut, Python, the wonderful serpent.

(play and fade only the first 8 seconds of the next track)

MUSICAL TRACK
The sting of love
Orlando Consort
Hyperion, 2015 / B00QKYTS58
Guillaume de Machaut
Tr. 5 Phyton, The marvelous (Extract: first 8 seconds)

. . . And now, let’s listen to the opening of a ballad by Magister Franciscus.

(play and fade only the first 8 seconds of the next track)

MUSICAL TRACK
Codex Chantilly. Flight. 2
Tetraktys
Olive Music, Etcetera, 2011 / B01KB119Q6
Magisterium Franciscus
Tr. 8 Phiton (Extract: first 8 seconds)

We do not know exactly which of several musicians named Franciscus composed this ballad, but he was certainly familiar with Machaut’s work, since most of his compositions, like this one, quote Machaut either in the text or in the music. . Franciscus takes the story of the Python in a different direction, associating the death of the serpent at the hands of Phoebus Apollo with a battle in which Gaston III, the Count of Foix who was known as “Febus” for his golden hair , has defeated an enemy, perhaps Jean d’Armegnac.

Let’s listen to the rest of Franciscus’ composition, which is performed here with a voice on one part and instruments on the others.

MUSICAL TRACK
Codex Chantilly. Flight. 2
Tetraktys
Olive Music, Etcetera, 2011 / B01KB119Q6
Magisterium Franciscus
Tr. 8 Phiton (9:05)

Bewitching, don’t you think? This interpretation of the ballad Phiton Phiton by Magister Franciscus comes from the Tetraktys ensemble on their 2011 Etcetera CD Codex Chantilly, Vol 2.

Now let’s move on to pairing serious and drinking songs in our featured album, the third volume of Serious and Drinking Airs, released in 2021 on the Harmonia Mundi label, by Les Arts Florissant, directed by William Christie.

Let’s start with a courteous French song. Did you know that some court tunes are actually in Italian? O que d’Etienne Moulinié [che] gioia ne sento – from a collection that includes accompaniment for lute and guitar, is an example, and it is a song about mutual love for a change – the lady is delighted that her lover’s heart has been touched by Cupid’s arrow too!

MUSICAL TRACK
Don’t wait for my eyes anymore… Serious & Drinking Airs Vol.3
[“Wait no more, my eyes”, Serious and Drinking Airs vol.3]
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Harmonia Mundi, 2021 / B08YL9NM9S
Etienne Moulinié:
Tr. 4 O che gioia (1:41)

O che gioia, by Etienne Moulinié, performed by Les Arts Florissant.

The recording also features instrumental music from the mid-17th century in France, for example this anonymous and juicy chromatic German with her prelude to a 1665 publication of 4-part music.

MUSICAL TRACK
Don’t wait for my eyes anymore… Serious & Drinking Airs Vol.3
[“Wait no more, my eyes”, Serious and Drinking Airs vol.3]
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Harmonia Mundi, 2021 / B08YL9NM9S
Anonymous:
Tr. 15 Prelude and Cromatic German (2:59)

An anonymous prelude and a German chromatic for 3 violins and basso continuo, performed by Les Arts Florissant, on their third volume of French Airs graves & à l’eau.

Let’s move on to “drinkingâ€, or to the drinking end of the spectrum, listen to the interpretation of the Arts Florissant on “What do we say in the village? »By Pierre Guedron. – “What do we say in the village?” Turns out they say young Margot has lost her chastity and is in the woods looking for her!

MUSICAL TRACK
Don’t wait for my eyes anymore… Serious & Drinking Airs Vol.3
[“Wait no more, my eyes”, Serious and Drinking Airs vol.3]
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Harmonia Mundi, 2021 / B08YL9NM9S
Pierre Guédron:
Tr. 19 What do we say in the village? (3:21)

Pierre Guédron’s song “What do we say in the village? was performed by the members of Les Arts Florissants on their third volume of court arias, entitled N’espérez ma plus mes eyes… Airs graves & à l’eau Vol.3, [“Wait no more, my eyes”, Serious and Drinking Airs vol.3], the release of Harmonia Mundi 2021 with Les Arts Florissants, directed by William Christie.

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Harmonia is a production of WFIU. Support comes from Early Music America: a national organization that champions and supports the historic interpretation of music from the past, the community of artists who create it, and the listeners whose lives are enriched. On the web at EarlyMusicAmerica-dot-org.

Additional resources come from the William and Gayle Cook Music Library at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

We appreciate your thoughts on any part of this program, or on early music in general. Contact us at harmonia early music dot org. And, you can follow our Facebook page by searching for Harmonia Early Music.

The author of this edition of Harmonia was Wendy Gillespie.

Thanks to our studio engineer Michael Paskash and our production team: LuAnn Johnson, Wendy Gillespie, Aaron Cain and John Bailey. I am Angela Mariani, I invite you to join us again for the next edition of Harmonia.

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