O rosa bella

O rosa bella
English and Continental Music from the Late Gothic Period
Clemencic Consort - René Clemencic
Arte Nova 59210

Contents:

  1. Bedingham or Dunstable: O rosa bella (3-voice original, with anonymous added voice; 4 voices, fiddle)
  2. Anon., Trent Codex (c.1440): Gymel super "O rosa bella" (recorder, 2 fiddles)
  3. Anon., Trent Codex (c.1440): Missa super "O rosa bella" - Kyrie (4 voices)
  4. Missa - Gloria (4 voices)
  5. Anon., Buxheimer Organ Book (1460-70): Intabulation I "O rosa bella" (organ)
  6. Missa - Credo (4 voices)
  7. Missa - Sanctus (4 voices)
  8. Anon., Buxheimer Organ Book (1460-70): Intabulation II "O rosa bella" (organ)
  9. Missa - Agnus (4 voices)
  10. Anon., Trent Codex / Hert: O rosa bella (recorder, 2 fiddles)
  11. Anon., Trent Codex: O rosa bella (recorder, 2 fiddles)
  12. Anon., Glogauer Liederbuch (c.1480): In feuers hitz / O rosa bella (quodlibet; 3 voices, fiddle)
  13. Anon., Glogauer Liederbuch: Hast du mir die laute bracht / O rosa bella (quodlibet; 3 voices, fiddle)
  14. Bedingham or Dunstable: O rosa bella (ballate e concordantiae; 3 voices, recorder, 2 fiddles)
  15. Ciconia: O rosa bella (3 voices, fiddle)

Performers: David James (countertenor), Bernd Lambauer (tenor), Colin Mason (baritone), Gerd Kenda (bass), Thomas Wimmer (fiddle), Igor Pomykalo (fiddle)

Playing time: 71'

Recording date: October 1997 (Vienna)

All tracks are based on the ballata O rosa bella (c.1420). The mass sections also contain introductory organ incipits from the Buxheimer Organ Book. Neither organ nor recorder are credited, and so are presumably played by Clemencic himself. In the case of track #14, the 3 additional voices date from the era itself, and were once thought to be by Bedingham, with the 3 original voices by Dunstable. Now it is seen as more likely that the 3 original voices are by Bedingham, with the added 3 anonymous; the added voice of track #1 is from a different anonymous source; there is also a 2-voice reworking by Ockeghem. The concluding setting by Ciconia (c.1410) is of the same text, but is musically unrelated.

A more recent, similar program:

O Rosa Bella
Mass by Gilles Joye and Chansons by Dunstable and Bedyngham
Ensemble Dionea / Ensemble Nova Alta
Brilliant Classics 95529

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Todd M. McComb