As the liner notes to this set discuss, Ockeghem's songs have not always been considered his most important works, since many of his more impressive "theoretical" contributions come from the mass cycles, but songs are actually his largest (by number anyway) output — & moreover include some real variety, including more technically challenging items. Many are of course more melodic & affect based (often melancholic...).
And I've always enjoyed these chansons greatly, e.g. going back to the Medieval Ensemble of London set. It's nice to have an update though, and Blue Heron has really set out to handle every detail: Ensembles & even individual participants vary from track to track, fitting the individual song, and the recordings were made over a series of years (in 2018, and then between 2022 & 2024). Coloration is thus distinct, articulation is usually clear, etc. And the open fifths do ring out — i.e. don't involve yielding to the urge some groups have to temper "Renaissance music" (even as not doing so can bring its own conundrums, i.e. with the coming c.1500 repertory...).
Now that they've completed the full set — including a few "related" tracks (including by other composers) as well — the result is also that much more impressive, although the beginning of Volume 2 does take a little longer to appreciate.... Volume 1 was more readily enjoyable originally, but they open with some of the less clear pieces/interpretations for the second volume, eventually returning to some of the more sumptuously melodic examples.... After taking some time to listen then, every piece is still enjoyable. There really isn't a clunker. And now my earlier comments (from 2019) regarding Volume 1:
The performances themselves are superb, very carefully prepared & executed with the weight of a "complete" collection for posterity apparently in mind.... If anything, the interpretations may be too careful to have as much pizzaz as some other projects, but the care is also appreciated. Voices are well chosen, phrasing & articulation are highly studied, and different forces are chosen so as to bring out the individual features of each chanson. (For instance, on this disc, the only part doubling occurs on S'elle m'amera / Petite camusette — where the lowest part is doubled by harp to provide a welcome rhythmic emphasis for this lively, combinative song.) In this, interpretive novelty is not at all the focus, but rather "posterity" per se, or so it would appear. In that, this seems to be an almost ideal production, and I have no criticism of the project, at least as a retroactive document of preservation. It's obviously been carefully planned, and the execution is superb. It's rare, maybe unprecedented, to hear a recording of material from this era & not to think (almost immediately) of potential improvements....
Then let me add here (in 2024) that the second volume doesn't involve any part doubling. Also, I guess the later release does come off as less "planned," i.e. as finding it difficult to find apt recording spots, etc. It does seem as though they struggled a little more to bring this project to completion in that practical sense. Maybe they'd've indeed liked more preparation time to polish articulation for a few tracks....
Todd M. McComb Updated: 13 May 2024