Machaut: The Fount of Grace

by Orlando Consort

Overview

Fans of the now-defunct Orlando Consort can take consolation from the fact that the group's recordings continue to appear; The Fount of Grace is the next-to-last volume in the Consort's ambitious survey of the music of Guillaume de Machaut. It is a strong entry, and it makes a good choice for listeners wanting to sample a single volume. The ten works on the album (curiously divided into 45 tracks in online sources) represent all of the major genres of the composer's music: the ballade, rondeau, motet, virelai, and lay or lai, lacking only the Notre Dame Mass that has been covered elsewhere. The subtleties of these and their relationship to both the tumultuous political world in which Machaut lived and to the medieval nexus between sacred and secular, so different from our own, are explored in the superb booklet by Jacques Boogaart, who prepared the new editions that are used in these performances. As usual, the performances by the Orlando Consort are crisp, rendering the considerable rhythmic complexity of many of these pieces cleanly. The Consort performs the music a cappella, which is less common than it formerly was; there is some evidence that the pieces could be performed either with or without instrumental accompaniment, but the long Lay de la fonteinne seems to cry out for some instrumental variety. That aside, this is an album that delves more deeply into Machaut's music than previous, including those by the Orlando Consort itself, and it landed on classical best-seller charts in the summer of 2023. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	07/07/2023
Label:	Hyperion
UPC:	0034571284170
Rank:	87200

Tracks

1. Donnez, signeurs, ballade 26 for 3 voices
2. Tu qui gregem / Plange regni / Apprehende arma, motet 22 for 4 voices
3. Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, rondeau 9 for 2 voices
4. Felix virgo / Inviolata genitrix / Ad te suspiramus, motet 23 for 4 voices
5. Hé, dame de valour, virelai 11 for 1 voice
6. Tres douce dame, ballade 24 for 2 voices
7. Je ne cesse de prier 'Le lay de la fonteinne', lay 16 for 3 voices
8. Christe qui lux / Veni creator spiritus / Tribulatio proxima est, motet 21 for 4 voices
9. En mon cuer a un descort, virelai 24 for 2 voices
10. Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, rondeau 9 for 4 voices

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Orlando Consort   Primary Artist,Vocal Ensemble

Technical Credits

Todd Harris   Booklet Editor
Viola Scheffel   Liner Note Translation
Guillaume de Machaut   Composer
Simon Perry   Executive Producer
Mark Brown   Recording Producer
Marie-Stella Paris   Liner Note Translation
David Hinitt   Engineer
Jacques Boogaart   Liner Notes
David Aubert   Cover Illustration