Ensemble Clément Janequin
Agnès Mellon (soprano), Dominique Visse (countertenor),
Michel Laplénie (tenor), Philippe Cantor (baritone), Antoine
Sicot (bass), Claude Debôves (lute)
Playing time: 53'
Recording date: June 1984
Excerpts:
[10] Harmonia mundi HMX 290 8016.20
Musique de la Renaissance Music - L'Europe Musicale au XVe et XVIe
siècles
This disc presents excerpts of the first book of the "Amours" of Pierre de Ronsard, subtitled "Amours de Cassandre," set to music by Anthoine de Bertrand (1540?-1581?).
Ronsard is the central poet of the French Renaissance. His main
characteristics are to have a very rich language and to use a lot
of images to illustrate his ideas. His works were used by a great
variety of composers.
The realization made by de Bertrand is one of the most achieved,
in the art of underlying the text and its ideas with music. One
perfect example is the last track of this disc, beginning slowly
and softly (word "doux" - soft), and ending with waves
of sounds and rhythms (words "Montagnes and plaines" -
mountains and plains).
Always the music respects the scansion of the text, thanks to a
great variety of rhythms and tempi.
This citation represents the substantial output of musical settings for major French poets of the period. These are important literary & musical combinations which have been largely overlooked next to the Italian madrigal of the period.
Other collections devoted to settings of Ronsard's poetry:
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To FAQ references to this recording.
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Todd M. McComb