The Orlando Consort - Machaut: The Fount of Grace (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/192]

The ‘fount of grace’ of the title is the Virgin Mary, to whom Machaut addresses his appeals for mercy during a turbulent period in France’s history.

Guillaume de Machaut (c1300-1377), France’s most famous poet-composer of the fourteenth century, was probably the last to set exclusively his own texts to music in the tradition of the trouvères before him. On the other hand, he was one of the first to compose his love songs in polyphony. Machaut’s complete works are exceptionally well preserved in beautifully illuminated manuscripts, originally destined for wealthy noble patrons. For the public at large, Machaut is nowadays best known as the composer of the first polyphonic Mass, his marvellous Messe de Notre Dame. However, far from being a composer of predominantly religious works (the Mass remained his only liturgical composition), Machaut instead devoted most of his artistic efforts to the praise of courtly love, in allegorical dits (or stories, two of them being pseudo-autobiographical) and in lyrics with and without music—those set to music including lays, motets and chansons, both monophonic and polyphonic—virtually all of which deal with the joys and problems of love. Yet, within this idealized courtly world, there are also some peepholes, especially in his literary works, which give us a glimpse of the harsh reality of the times in which he lived. A handful of Machaut’s musical works, recorded here, even reveal in detail some of the disasters that befell France during his lifetime.

Few of Machaut’s songs have an explicitly religious character. In two lays he professed his devout love for the Virgin Mary. One of these, the Lay de la fonteinne (track 7) which forms the backbone of the present recording, starts with a surprising transition from courtly to spiritual love. Rejected by his beloved, the lover decides to appeal to the Virgin for her grace, which he is certain to receive because, unlike earthly ladies, she never withholds her love. In the first part of the lay he praises Mary’s superb qualities and explains how, at the Holy Ghost’s command, she became daughter of God the Father and mother to Jesus the Son. This praise is followed by a lengthy and quite unorthodox exposition of the mystery of the Trinity, which is compared to the different shapes of water flowing from a fountain; whoever washes himself in that water will be saved. Recalling his sinful life, the poet implores the Virgin to intercede with her Son that his transgressions may not cause him to be thrown into Satan’s cauldron.

In Machaut’s oeuvre the lay (or lai—both spellings occur) has twelve double stanzas. Each of the twelve has its own distinctive rhyme scheme, which makes this form extremely demanding; only the final pair of stanzas returns to the initial rhyme scheme. (Indeed, Machaut’s pupil Eustache Deschamps called the lay the most arduous of all poetic forms.) Moreover, the music for each stanza pair utilizes a different melody, again except for stanza 12, which has the same melody as the first, but transposed up a fifth (or sometimes down a fourth). An additional complication of the Lay de la fonteinne is that while the odd-numbered stanzas are monophonic, as is customary in lays, the even-numbered ones call for three voices. The notation remains monophonic throughout, but the word ‘chace’ indicates that these verses are to be sung as a three-part canon at the unison. Thus the musical structure symbolizes the idea of three in one—the Trinity.

In the first stanza the lover’s entreaty for grace from his lady is rendered by an expressive melody with descending gestures in narrow intervals, sung in the molle (soft) hexachord which includes the note B flat. (A hexachord is a scale of six notes which are used to intone the proper pitches.) At the moment in the text where the lady remains unyielding—‘Sans amollier’ (‘Beyond being mollified’)—the melody changes to the durum (hard) hexachord with the note B natural (or B durum) and now has a predominantly upward direction. The musical illustration applies as well to the new text in the repeat of the melody, where the poet turns to the Virgin: her love is ‘Sans amenuisier’ (‘Without growing weak’). Each stanza takes over some melodic and/or rhythmic motifs from the preceding one. Gradually, the three-voice stanzas become more complex, and are interspersed with rests which in the canonic structure become parts of hockets (quick exchanges of notes and rests between the voices). Only towards the end, in stanza 11, does simplicity return. In the twelfth and final stanza, the rhymes and melody of stanza 1 return, but now as a canon which transforms the original expressive melody of the beginning into a tense counterpoint of contrasting phrases. This setting betrays the passion with which the poet implores the Virgin to pray that her Son’s anger may not strike the humble sinner when the final day of judgement comes.

Occasionally, Machaut steps forward as an engaged observer of the turmoil of his times. At various places in his work he refers to the devastation of the country by pestilence, war and strife. The years around 1358-60 are among the most calamitous in France’s history. The Hundred Years’ War had already broken out two decades earlier, but after a number of humiliating French defeats (Crécy in 1346, Poitiers in 1356), things looked darker than ever. Machaut’s hometown Reims was beleaguered—without success—for forty days in 1359/60 by the English Black Prince, son of King Edward III who at the time held claim to the French throne; Reims Cathedral was the place where French kings were traditionally crowned. Even the aged Machaut had to keep watch on the walls of the city, as he reveals in a melancholic complaint (not set to music).

Three of Machaut’s motets—his latest works in this genre—deal with these disasters and plead for divine help. All three end with a prayer for peace. The grandeur of these works’ four vocal parts makes them very different from his earlier elegant love motets; the sonority of these motets is closer to Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame. The lower pair of voices (tenor and contratenor) moves in expansive slow notes, while the texted upper voices (motetus and triplum) move more quickly and with complex rhythmic figuration interspersed with hockets. All three motets are preceded by an introit starting with the two upper voices, one of which opens the piece and is joined by the other at the halfway point, while the lower voices enter towards the end, announcing the main body of the motet.

Christe qui lux / Veni creator spiritus / Tribulatio proxima est (Motet 21, track 8) appeals to Christ and the Holy Ghost for help against the devastations wreaked upon the land by the English, who are not named explicitly but are called ‘a wretched people’. This work is the most impressive and grandest of the three motets, and can probably be connected to the siege of Reims. The two upper voices begin by citing the text of a well-known hymn. The psalm text of the tenor (Psalm 21: 12), taken from the responsory ‘Circumdederunt me viri mendaces’, is also cited in the texts of the upper voices, as are several prophetic texts, namely those from the book of Habakkuk. The despairing tone of this work and the comparison with the miseries of the people of Israel in the Old Testament betray the utter hopelessness of the French people. The triplum opens the motet and is soon joined by the motetus, while at the end of the introit the two lower voices deploy a powerful supporting role. In the main body of the work, the tenor and contratenor move in repeating rhythmic patterns—the taleae (a structure found in most motets). Here they sound four times and are then repeated in notes which are twice as short, effectuating a speeding-up that expresses the urgency of the cry for divine help. The fleet-footed upper voices also have repeating rhythms but in a filigree of shorter notes. The coordinated rhythmic structure outlines the strophic design of this monumental prayer.

Tu qui gregem / Plange regni / Apprehende arma (Motet 22, track 2) is a clearly political work. Like Motet 21, it is built on a fragment from a responsory with a psalm text (Psalm 34: 2)—an exhortation to take up arms. Here it is the motetus that starts the brief introit, calling on the realm to weep. In around 1358 France was in a desperate state: King John the Good remained as a prisoner in England after the defeat at Poitiers, and several factions struggled for power. Dissent among the nobles who ruled the country and tried to profit from the weakness of the government made France easy prey for the enemy. A textual ostinato in the triplum on the words ‘dux’ and forms of the verb ‘ducere’ emphasizes the urgent need for leadership: a ‘dux’ is called upon to take up the role of leader and to lead (‘ducere’) his people out of their miseries. The figure being gestured to here is probably the young and inexperienced Dauphin Charles, Duke (‘dux’) of Normandy, who governed the country in his father’s absence. The motet’s dazzling rhythms and, towards the end, the leaps into the highest register further the desperation of the French people.

In Felix virgo / Inviolata genitrix / Ad te suspiramus (Motet 23, track 4), the Holy Virgin is beseeched for mediation with her Son, for help against ‘a people of great wealth’ (the English) by whom the suffering people are dragged into an abyss of miseries. She, the Virgin whose worth can be described solely in superlatives, is the only one who can cause her Son to take action. The tenor is a fragment from the Salve regina, one of the four Marian antiphons which in an annual round conclude each liturgical day. The lengthy introit opens with the triplum, which is soon joined by the motetus. Together they form a tense counterpoint that conveys the bitter pain of the supplicants; eventually they are bolstered by the awe-inspiring sound of the two lower voices. The main body of the motet sounds less stern than in the other two motets but is no less intense. As in Motet 21, the taleae—here there are three—are repeated in half-length values, increasing the pace and tension of the piece. Some of the triplum’s text recalls that of Motet 22 (‘For like the blind we walk / And are following no guide’; ‘… led to the right path’). Machaut’s passionate appeal to the Virgin forms a grand conclusion to his motet corpus. In their musical settings the three late motets are a wonderful illustration of the composer’s superb handling of four-part counterpoint.

The majority of Machaut’s songs are devoted to the praise of courtly love, and many are in ballade form. A ballade has two sections, the first of which is open-ended; the melody is then repeated with a more clear-cut cadence. The second section is not repeated but is followed by a refrain that returns in all three of the ballade’s stanzas.

The three-voice ballade Donnez, signeurs (track 1) is not a love song but an appeal to the noble class. As a former almoner in the service of John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, Machaut had himself received several substantial gifts from great lords: he knew the good impression to be made through generosity. In this song he calls for (unnamed) lords to be generous: better to give out your riches with a sweeping gesture than to be robbed of them. The song’s melody develops in broad melismatic figures on the most important words, in alternation with swift declamation of the remaining text. Tres douce dame (track 6) is a tender ballade for two vocal parts in which the lover promises eternal faith to his lady. Its melody is characterized by frequent descending figures, with syncopated rhythms darting over a slow-moving tenor. This ballade has an energetic pace, and in modern terms is in 2/4 time.

Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez (Rondeau 9, track 3/10) plays, as do many rondeaux, with the ambiguity of two similar-sounding words—here ‘emprisonnez’ and ‘en [ceste] prison nez’. Being in prison or imprisoned is a metaphor for being captivated by love for a lady. Typical for the text-setting in rondeaux is that these ambiguous rhyming words receive an extended melisma. A rondeau has two musical sections that are slightly irregularly repeated—in scheme: AB aA ab AB (capitals indicating textual and melodic repeats, lowercase letters denoting new text on the repeated melody). Originally this rondeau was a two-part song (cantus and tenor), but in a late manuscript two voices were added—one in the upper register (the triplum) and the other as a companion to the tenor (the contratenor)—resulting in a rich four-part texture.

Virelais are mostly homophonic and rhythmically lively and simple, as is the case in the two such works recorded here. Machaut by preference called the form ‘chanson baladee’ (‘dancing song’). A virelai consists of three stanzas, each of which is bookended by a refrain; in turn, each refrain–stanza–refrain block follows the scheme AbbaA (‘A’ being the refrain, ‘a’ the same melody with different text, ‘b’ different melody and text). It may often have been sung by a group and a soloist, with the latter taking the verses and all singers joining in for the refrains. In Hé, dame de valour (track 5) the protagonist praises the lady and sanguinely petitions for her grace. The dance character of virelais is often enhanced by the use of iambic rhythms (short–long), as can be heard in this song. In some virelais Machaut used a two- or three-part texture but still kept rhythm and melody simpler and more lilting than in his ballades and rondeaux. En mon cuer a un descort (track 9) describes a typical dilemma in the lover’s heart, a conflict between Desire for and Fear of the lady. Iambic rhythms are now also in the tenor voice but in longer notes, while the iambs of the upper voice can at the same time be heard as syncopated rhythms in 3/4 time.

This album thus offers an almost complete survey of the various aspects of Machaut’s art: his idiosyncratic explanation in music of an article of faith and his trust in the Virgin’s clemency, his intense prayers for peace in impressive motets, and his praise of courtly love in pleasant and imaginative songs.

Tracklist:
1. Machaut: Donnez, signeurs, Ballade 26 a 3: I. Donnez, signeurs, donnez a toutes mains (1:47)
2. Machaut: Donnez, signeurs, Ballade 26 a 3: II. A vos subgés donnez et a lonteins (1:45)
3. Machaut: Donnez, signeurs, Ballade 26 a 3: III. Quant princes est loiaus, larges, humeins (1:53)
4. Machaut: Tu qui gregem / Plange regni / Apprehende arma, Motet 22 a 4 (2:47)
5. Machaut: Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, Rondeau 9 a 2: I. Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez (1:06)
6. Machaut: Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, Rondeau 9 a 2: II. Jamais ne quier estre desprisonnez (1:19)
7. Machaut: Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, Rondeau 9 a 2: III. Car tous biens m’est en ceste prison nez (1:04)
8. Machaut: Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, Rondeau 9 a 2: IV. Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez (1:14)
9. Machaut: Felix virgo / Inviolata genitrix / Ad te suspiramus, Motet 23 a 4 (3:53)
10. Machaut: Hé, dame de valour, Virelai 11 a 1: I. Hé, dame de valour (1:17)
11. Machaut: Hé, dame de valour, Virelai 11 a 1: II. Mais pour peinne ne pour grieté (0:59)
12. Machaut: Hé, dame de valour, Virelai 11 a 1: III. Pour ce vous pri que par pité (1:07)
13. Machaut: Tres douce dame, Ballade 24 a 2: I. Tres douce dame, que j’aour (1:25)
14. Machaut: Tres douce dame, Ballade 24 a 2: II. Car je vous ay donné m'amour (1:27)
15. Machaut: Tres douce dame, Ballade 24 a 2: III. Quant je voy vostre grant douçour (1:34)
16. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - I. Je ne cesse de prier (0:55)
17. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - II. S'en vueil une autre acointier (0:52)
18. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - III. Et ou porrait on querir (1:59)
19. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - IV. C'est celle qui par ordonnance (1:26)
20. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - V. Mais n'i ha point de difference (1:28)
21. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - VI. Ces trois un a po de peinne (2:03)
22. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - VII. Et qui de ceste eaue prendroit (1:04)
23. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - VIII. L'eaue de vie einsi venoit (1:02)
24. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - IX. Mais ceste trinité (2:00)
25. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - X. De la duis le Pere nomme (0:50)
26. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - XI. Mais miex vorroie estre a Romme (0:52)
27. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - XII. Et pour ce di que cil troy (2:06)
28. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - XIII. Pour ce te pri (0:34)
29. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - XIV. M'ame t'otri (0:34)
30. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - XV. Mais de tel confort (1:58)
31. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - XVI. He! fonteinne de concorde (1:07)
32. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - XVII. Fai tant que de li m'estorde (1:08)
33. Machaut: Je ne cesse de prier "Le lay de la fonteinne", Lay 16 a 3 - XVIII. Pour laver et nettoier (2:15)
34. Machaut: Christe qui lux / Veni creator spiritus / Tribulatio proxima est, Motet 21 a 4 (4:00)
35. Machaut: En mon cuer a un descort, Virelai 24 a 2: I. En mon cuer a un descort (0:30)
36. Machaut: En mon cuer a un descort, Virelai 24 a 2: II. C'est de mon loial desir (1:02)
37. Machaut: En mon cuer a un descort, Virelai 24 a 2: III. En mon cuer a un descort (0:33)
38. Machaut: En mon cuer a un descort, Virelai 24 a 2: IV. Si ne say que devenir (1:02)
39. Machaut: En mon cuer a un descort, Virelai 24 a 2: V. En mon cuer a un descort (0:32)
40. Machaut: En mon cuer a un descort, Virelai 24 a 2: VI. Las, einsi m'estuet languir (1:04)
41. Machaut: En mon cuer a un descort, Virelai 24 a 2: VII. En mon cuer a un descort (0:43)
42. Machaut: Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, Rondeau 9 a 4: I. Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez (1:03)
43. Machaut: Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, Rondeau 9 a 4: II. Jamais ne quier estre desprisonnez (1:17)
44. Machaut: Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, Rondeau 9 a 4: III. Car tous biens m’est en ceste prison nez (1:02)
45. Machaut: Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez, Rondeau 9 a 4: IV. Tant doucement me sens emprisonnez (1:12)


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