I didn't notice this recording when it first appeared — presumably due to its thematic title — but was informed a few years later by a reader. So I didn't write a review originally, and consequently didn't have a period to experience the music before some new, notable examples of Franco-Flemish polyphonic interpretation appeared....
And I also hadn't featured Brumel here previously, as the (Italianate?) song-like quality of many of his works, even motets, hasn't really resonated with me. Neither had I listed the 12-voice "Earthquake" mass, although it's clearly Brumel's most prominent work, at least in the contemporary discography, and unique for the period....
I still wouldn't say it's a clear favorite, but it's a unique piece, and the present rendition is the most coherently articulated yet. But then, I also don't feel as though it's in the same league, in terms of clarity, as some of the newer notable interpretations here.... It can feel relatively static & unsure at times (although sometimes there doesn't seem to be a lot of forward momentum to the piece itself, but rather a series of episodes...), still a little foggy in terms of capturing the underlying logic & especially the myriad details of the cycle.
In that sense, this release certainly contrasts with e.g. the more recent Obrecht Missa Maria zart reading, which involves new standards of detailed clarity (without compromising the longer lines & forward arcs...). But otherwise, the cycles might be compared in their extreme characters: Obrecht uses an ordinary number of voices (i.e. 4), but makes the underlying melody as ubiquitous as possible over extraordinary lengths & sequences. Brumel likewise permeates the piece with the theme, but with more explicit textural variety (& verticality) in terms of alternations, various (surprisingly) light filigree passages, and also grand climaxes....
Presumably the main reason I didn't notice this album at first, though, is the title, which doesn't mention Brumel or Franco-Flemish polyphony, or indeed anything I associate with the main repertory of the period. But the idea that Brumel's mass was the only possible 12-voice mass that could've been performed at this famous event (involving Martin Luther) isn't one I can dispute, although evidence is certainly circumstantial.... Was Brumel himself a supporter of Protestantism? I don't know, but I also don't care for the orientation here, or for the rest of the program.... (The mass cycle comes off more coherently without the intervening tracks, for one thing.)
They also don't say much about the choices. The non-Josquin motet is presented without comment, for instance. Nor is there much of anything to say about concluding with the Gombert Agnus III.... (And the Walter piece is pretty wild, but I wouldn't say I really enjoy it.) The notion implied in the accompanying notes, that Brumel was following a bunch of "rules," is odd too.
So that's my ambivalent reaction to what is surely the most articulate performance yet of one of the unique cycles of the era.... I'll have to see how my reaction develops over time: There's indeed a distinctive simmering, "quaking" feeling that comes to emerge....
Todd M. McComb Updated: 15 August 2023