Singer Pur - Adrian Willaert: Musica Nova - The Motets (2013) 3CDs

In 1559 a remarkable collection of compositions by Adrian Willaert was published under the title Musica Nova. This title suggests that it comprised new compositions but that is not the case. They all date from the 1540s but had never been published before. A contemporary musician stated that they unfortunately had been "hidden and buried" for many years. This is remarkable considering the status of Willaert who was one of the most celebrated composers of his time. It was not without reason that he was maestro di cappella of St Mark's in Venice from 1527 until his death.

Also remarkable is the fact that the collection included motets and madrigals. This was quite unusual: collections of motets were purchased by court and cathedral chapels to be sung during liturgy but they had no use for madrigals. However, the music in Musica Nova was not written for the church. It is likely that in the years before publication the motets and madrigals were performed in the circle of Florentine fuorisciti who had been exiled from their native city because of their resistance to the rule of the Medici family. One of them was Neri Capponi, at whose musical soirées Willaert was a regular guest. Another participant was a Florentine singer, Polissena Pecorina; she was the first owner of the collection. In 1554 she sold the scores to the Ferrarese nobleman Alfonso d'Este. She was aware of the value of the material as she asked and received a high price. The printer was one of Venice's most famous, Antoine Gardane, who performed his job with utmost care. The format and layout of the partbooks was exceptional and the print contains a portrait of the composer, the only seemingly authentic portrait which has come down to us. Moreover, the connection between the notes and the syllables is very precise, which leaves no doubt about which note should be sung on which syllable.

In 2009 the German ensemble Singer Pur started the project of recording the whole collection as a remembrance of the first publication 450 years ago. The first part was a set of two discs which included the 25 madrigals, all but one on texts from the Canzonieri by Petrarca. I reviewed this recording here. Three years later the second part was released, comprising the 27 motets. Like the madrigals they are scored for four to seven voices. These use biblical and liturgical texts; there are no motets devoted to single saints, except for the Virgin Mary. The lyrics in the booklet include references to the time of the ecclesiastical year for which they were conceived, for instance Dominica Resurrectionis (Easter). I assume that these references are part of the original edition. Most motets are in two parts, some in three. O admirabile commercium is unique in that it comprises seven parts, which explains its exceptional length.

Willaert's motets are supreme representatives of the stile antico and were widely admired. There are no madrigalisms in the motets from Musica Nova, although here and there one can detect some modest examples of text illustration. Aspice Domine is on a text from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and that could explain its dark mood: it is performed here with tenors, baritones and basses. On the other hand, many motets are on texts about penitence and sin and have a more 'conventional' scoring. Moreover, the pitch is mostly left to the performers.

Singer Pur consists of singers who are former members of the Regensburger Domspatzen. The five men were joined by a soprano and they won an important prize in 1994. Since then they have made an impressive career with repertoire which goes from the renaissance to avant-garde and jazz. It is remarkable that they do not include an alto. That is the reason the ensemble is extended by guest singers in projects like this. Even so, in some cases I miss the alto voice. There is sometimes a kind of gap between the soprano and the male singers. That is partly due to the fact that the highest tenors seem a little overstretched now and then and are lacking in presence. In this recording the motets in which the alto David Erler is involved generally come off best. Actually, the top voice could have been sung by him as well as its tessitura is well within his grasp, at least in the pitch chosen here.

The recording is good, but the miking is a bit too close for comfort. It allows the listener to follow the individual lines, but a little more distance would have resulted in a better ensemble effect. The last issue is the pronunciation of Latin. In my reviews I often complain about the Italian pronunciation of Latin in compositions by German composers. Here the reverse is the case: the singers pronounce Latin following common practice in Germany, and that is quite odd.

These points of criticism shouldn't hold anyone back from purchasing this set and the previous volume with the madrigals. Overall these performances are very good. This project is of major importance and a worthy tribute to one of the greatest composers of the 16th century. The booklet includes all lyrics with a German and an English translation. It is a shame that the original texts and the translations have not been printed side by side; rather than one below the other. That is quite inconvenient if you want to follow the original text and read the translation at the same time. The liner-notes are informative and include everything one would wish to have.

Review by Johan van Veen, MusicWeb-International.com

When Adrian Willaert (c.1490-1562) arrived in Venice in 1527, he was the first Flemish musician to be appointed maestro di cappella of St. Mark’s basilica, and the last of a long and distinguished line of Franco-Flemish musicians to dominate the Italian musical scene in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Although his position gave him the opportunity, not to say the duty, of supplying music for Mass and Vespers for his celebrated choir, his output does not appear on records as frequently as the music of his successors, most notably Monteverdi. Only a fraction of his 150 motets are available, and I have only three of his eight Masses in my collection. (His madrigals are better represented.) The Musica Nova , from which these motets come, was published by Gardano in 1559 at the behest of Alfonso d’Este, soon to be duke of Ferrara, who acquired the manuscript from the singer Polissena Pecorina. It contained 25 madrigals and 27 motets, works dating back through his career but kept apart from other music already published earlier. With the madrigals issued earlier ( Fanfare 33:4), Singer Pur has now recorded the entire publication. In the previous review, I indicated that I had not found any of the madrigals on records (no reader has written to offer any information on this).

Most of these motets have two parts; some have three, and O admirabile commercium has seven parts. The motets are set out here in order of themes, not the order of the published book, where the motets are grouped in ascending order of settings for four, five, six, and seven voices. The first disc is generally in praise of the Blessed Trinity, the second is entirely Marian in devotion, and the third is penitential, concluding with the sequences of Easter and Pentecost. Except for the last two pieces, it is remarkable that three very full discs can be equally divided along three distinct themes. The texts are from the Psalms and other scriptural and liturgical sources. Considering that the composition of these motets may have extended over a period of some years, the polyphonic style is notably uniform.

One motet that is special for its breadth is O admirabile commercium , the seven-part motet that takes its text from the seven antiphons for Lauds and Vespers of January 1. (While this is the feast of the Circumcision, it is structured as a Marian feast, and since 1970 has been known as the feast of Mary, the Mother of God.) This motet for five voices runs almost half an hour. The liturgical texts draw on biblical allusions, as in Rubum quem viderat , the third section, which takes the account of the burning bush unburnt from Exodus as a parallel to Mary’s giving birth while her virginity remained intact. Singer Pur’s execution is uniformly exquisite, with four male singers added to the six members of the ensemble (five former choirboys at Regensburg cathedral plus a soprano). Along with the Cinquecento disc (34: 2), these two sets of Musica Nova may be regarded as the preeminent observance of the composer’s 450th anniversary. With this recorded evidence, Willaert demonstrably occupies a place leading up to the glories of the High Renaissance that the next generation of composers achieved. Be sure to hear this impressive set.

Review by J. F. Weber, Fanfare

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR12 -2.87 dB -19.84 dB 9:28 01-Huc me sidereo - Pungentem - De me solus amor
DR12 -1.77 dB -17.78 dB 6:26 02-Dilexi, quoniam exaudiet - O Domine libera
DR12 -1.46 dB -18.35 dB 6:27 03-Audite insulae - Et posuit
DR12 -4.27 dB -18.74 dB 6:48 04-Haec est domus Domini - Fundavit eam
DR12 -0.74 dB -16.12 dB 8:22 05-Verbum supernum prodiens - Se nascens dedit
DR12 -0.39 dB -18.76 dB 8:56 06-Confitebor tibi Domine - In quacumque die - Si ambulavero
DR11 -2.97 dB -17.78 dB 6:41 07-Te Deum Patrem ingenitum - Laus Deo Patri
DR12 -3.41 dB -20.37 dB 7:47 08-Beati pauperes in spiritu - Beati qui persecutionem
DR14 -2.65 dB -20.17 dB 6:18 09-Sustinuimus pacem - Peccavimus cum patribus nostris
DR12 -2.23 dB -19.42 dB 7:15 10-Praeter rerum seriem - Virtus Sancti Spiritus
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Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR12 -2.44 dB -19.26 dB 7:50 01-Alma Redemptoris Mater - Tu quae genuisti
DR13 -1.37 dB -18.66 dB 12:39 02-Mittit ad Virginem - Exi, qui mitteris - Audit et suscipit
DR12 -0.30 dB -15.87 dB 7:07 03-Benedicta es coelorum Regina - Per illud Ave
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Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 10. May 2015, 10:51

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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR13 -4.05 dB -20.72 dB 8:41 01-Aspice Domine - Plorans ploravit in nocte
DR12 -3.47 dB -20.14 dB 6:27 02-Peccata mea - Quoniam iniquitatem
DR13 -3.47 dB -20.97 dB 7:17 03-Domine, quid multiplicati sunt - Ego dormivi
DR13 -0.42 dB -18.37 dB 7:30 04-Pater, peccavi - Quanti mercenarii
DR12 -3.80 dB -20.10 dB 6:33 05-Miserere nostri Deus omnium - Alleva manum tuam
DR12 -2.48 dB -18.37 dB 6:57 06-Avertatur obsecro - Inclina, Deus
DR12 -2.59 dB -19.08 dB 8:01 07-Omnia quae fecisti Domine - Cognoscimus Domine
DR13 -4.82 dB -21.25 dB 8:50 08-Recordare Domine - Patres nostri peccaverunt
DR12 -0.65 dB -17.27 dB 6:53 09-Victimae paschali laudes - Dic nobis Maria
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