Cappella Pratensis | Stratton Bull

Missa Maria zart

Price: € 20.95
Format: SACD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917293326
Catnr: CC 72933
Release date: 17 March 2023
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Label
Challenge Classics
UPC
0608917293326
Catalogue number
CC 72933
Release date
17 March 2023

"The performance of Cappella Pratensis is breathtakingly beautiful. The rich polyphonic pieces where the sung texts are melismatically supported are majestic. The singers sound homogeneous in which all voices are equal and unfold like an overwhelming metier. It is fantastic that such age-old music still has such an attraction for today’s people. Especially when the music has been performed with so much love and attention, which makes the enchantment even greater."

Music Frames, 17-4-2023
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Artist(s)
Composer(s)
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About the album

Jacob Obrecht’s Missa Maria zart is an extraordinary work, both literally, as probably the longest extant Mass of the Renaissance, taking an hour to perform, and in the more general meaning of the word. It is recognised as one of the most ambitious artistic creations of its time; some have claimed that it defies description. The director of Cappella Pratensis, Stratton Bull mentioned his interest in the complexities of Renaissance mensural notation and the difficulties that modern-day ensembles sometimes experience in interpreting it. Although several recordings of this Mass already existed, few if any had succeeded in doing justice to its subtle system of mensuration signs and use of notation generally. A symposium was held in 2018 and the resulting performance duly took place, but plans for a recording were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This had the welcome if unintended consequence of permitting several other live performances before the recording sessions in September 2022: the interpretation that Cappella Pratensis commits to disc is well ‘lived in’.

Jacob Obrecht was born in Ghent between 1457 and 1459. His career included a string of posts as choirmaster in Northern France and the Low Countries (Cambrai, Bruges, Bergen op Zoom, Antwerp). He died in Ferrara (of plague) in May or June 1505.

It is not known when the Missa Maria zart was composed but there are good reasons for thinking it one of Obrecht’s very last Mass cycles.

Even by Obrecht’s standards Maria zart is unusually complex and inventive.

Given the general agreement that Maria zart was probably commissioned for the Imperial court at Innsbruck, Cappella Pratensis uses the Germanic pronunciation that would have been in use there.

Jacob Obrechts Missa Maria zart ist ein außergewöhnliches Werk, sowohl im wörtlichen Sinne, da sie mit einer Stunde Aufführungsdauer wahrscheinlich die längste erhaltene Messe der Renaissance ist, als auch im allgemeineren Sinne des Wortes. Sie gilt als eine der ehrgeizigsten künstlerischen Schöpfungen ihrer Zeit; einige haben behauptet, dass sie sich jeder Beschreibung entzieht. Der Leiter der Cappella Pratensis, Stratton Bull, erklärte, er interessiere sich für die Komplexität der Mensuralnotation der Renaissance und die Schwierigkeiten, auf die moderne Ensembles bei ihrer Interpretation manchmal stoßen. Obwohl es bereits mehrere Aufnahmen dieser Messe gab, waren nur wenige, wenn überhaupt, in der Lage, dem subtilen System der Mensurzeichen und der Verwendung der Notation im Allgemeinen gerecht zu werden. Im Jahr 2018 wurde ein Symposium abgehalten und die daraus resultierende Aufführung fand statt, aber die Pläne für eine Aufnahme wurden aufgrund der Covid-19-Pandemie verschoben. Dies hatte die willkommene, wenn auch unbeabsichtigte Folge, dass mehrere weitere Live-Aufführungen vor den Aufnahmesitzungen im September 2022 möglich waren: Die Interpretation, die die Cappella Pratensis auf Platte bannt, ist gut " eingespielt ".
Jacob Obrecht wurde zwischen 1457 und 1459 in Gent geboren. Seine Karriere umfasste eine Reihe von Stellen als Chorleiter in Nordfrankreich und den Niederlanden (Cambrai, Brügge, Bergen op Zoom, Antwerpen). Er starb in Ferrara (an der Pest) im Mai oder Juni 1505.
Es ist nicht bekannt, wann die Missa Maria zart komponiert wurde, aber es gibt gute Gründe dafür, dass sie zu Obrechts allerletzten Messzyklen gehört.

Selbst für Obrechts Verhältnisse ist Maria zart ungewöhnlich komplex und einfallsreich.

Angesichts der allgemeinen Übereinstimmung, dass Maria zart wahrscheinlich für den kaiserlichen Hof in Innsbruck in Auftrag gegeben wurde, verwendet die Cappella Pratensis die dort übliche germanische Aussprache.

Artist(s)

Cappella Pratensis

The vocal ensemble Cappella Pratensis is a leader in the performance of polyphonic masterpieces from the 15th and 16th centuries, with a particular focus on the Low Countries. The group goes straight to the source, performing from facsimiles of original partbooks or choirbooks, the latter placed on a central music stand or projected on a large screen. Its programmes are intensively prepared and based on thorough musicological research, often in collaboration with leading scholars. Cappella Pratensis also enjoys a formal partnership with the Alamire Foundation, International Centre for the Study of Music in the Low Countries (University of Leuven). This multi-faceted approach results in a deep engagement with the music, in performances that get to the heart of this extraordinary repertoire....
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The vocal ensemble Cappella Pratensis is a leader in the performance of polyphonic masterpieces from the 15th and 16th centuries, with a particular focus on the Low Countries. The group goes straight to the source, performing from facsimiles of original partbooks or choirbooks, the latter placed on a central music stand or projected on a large screen. Its programmes are intensively prepared and based on thorough musicological research, often in collaboration with leading scholars. Cappella Pratensis also enjoys a formal partnership with the Alamire Foundation, International Centre for the Study of Music in the Low Countries (University of Leuven). This multi-faceted approach results in a deep engagement with the music, in performances that get to the heart of this extraordinary repertoire. Cappella Pratensis also appears in surprising new contexts, regularly collaborating with dance companies, jazz artists, theatre makers, and composers.
In addition to regular appearances at concert venues in the Netherlands and Belgium, Cappella Pratensis performs at leading international festivals and concert series throughout Europe, North America and Japan. The group has been ensemble-in-residence at Harvard University, the Fondation Royaumont (France), and Boston University, giving courses, presenting concerts and working with distinguished musicians. Its CD recordings have met with critical acclaim and distinctions from the press (including the Diapason d’Or and the Prix Choc). Gramophone magazine recognised the ensemble’s recording of the Ockeghem Requiem as the best out of more than 20 recordings made over the last 40 years.
Cappella Pratensis makes a priority of passing on its knowledge to both professionals and amateurs through masterclasses, workshops, multimedia presentations, and an annual summer course. In addition, it trains young singers within the ensemble itself.

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Stratton Bull (conductor)

Composer(s)

Jacob Obrecht

Jacob Obrecht was one of the composers who assured the excellent reputation of Dutch-Flemish music in the Renaissance. Obrecht worked in Bergen op Zoom, Cambrai, Bruges, Antwerp, and finally for a short period in Ferrara, Italy. In his earlier work, Obrecht was strongly influenced by his predecessors, especially Ockeghem. Soon his works grew bigger and more energetic, although he did have a short period in which he preferred calmer and more stable music. He was most prolific between 1485 and 1491, when he composed many missas and motets in a professional, yet extremely varied style. After this period, his style became less ambiguous. He strove less towards a pleasant sound, and more towards intelligible structures. In his final years, he...
more
Jacob Obrecht was one of the composers who assured the excellent reputation of Dutch-Flemish music in the Renaissance. Obrecht worked in Bergen op Zoom, Cambrai, Bruges, Antwerp, and finally for a short period in Ferrara, Italy. In his earlier work, Obrecht was strongly influenced by his predecessors, especially Ockeghem. Soon his works grew bigger and more energetic, although he did have a short period in which he preferred calmer and more stable music. He was most prolific between 1485 and 1491, when he composed many missas and motets in a professional, yet extremely varied style. After this period, his style became less ambiguous. He strove less towards a pleasant sound, and more towards intelligible structures. In his final years, he mostly composed motets.
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Press

The performance of Cappella Pratensis is breathtakingly beautiful. The rich polyphonic pieces where the sung texts are melismatically supported are majestic. The singers sound homogeneous in which all voices are equal and unfold like an overwhelming metier. It is fantastic that such age-old music still has such an attraction for today’s people. Especially when the music has been performed with so much love and attention, which makes the enchantment even greater.
Music Frames, 17-4-2023

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Often bought together with..

Missa De Sancto Donatiano (bruges 1487)
Cappella Pratensis

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Cappella Pratensis | Stratton Bull