Art choral vol. 1: Renaissance Ensemble ArtChoral & Matthias Maute

• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 - 1594): Recueil des morceaux de musique ancienne, Vol. 1, No. 5:
• 1Palestrina: Recueil des morceaux de musique ancienne, Vol. 1, No. 5: Adoramus te, Christe02:26
• Cristóbal de Morales (1500 - 1553): Officium defunctorum:
• 2Morales: Officium defunctorum: Parce mihi, Domine02:57
• Madrigali a 4 voci, Libro 4:
• 3Morales: Madrigali a 4 voci, Libro 4: Dite mi o sì o no01:51
• Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 - 1611): Officium hebdomadæ sanctæ:
• 4Victoria: Officium hebdomadæ sanctæ: O vos omnes04:03
• Clément Janequin (1485 - 1558): Chansons de maistre Clément Janequin:
• 5Janequin: Chansons de maistre Clément Janequin: La bataille de Marignan05:50
• Andrea Gabrieli (1533 - 1585): Sacræ cantiones quinque vocum, liber primus:
• 6Gabrieli: Sacræ cantiones quinque vocum, liber primus: O sacrum convivium03:17
• Cipriano de Rore (1515 - 1565): Ave Regina cælorum:
• 7Rore: Ave Regina cælorum04:20
• Josquin des Prez (1450 - 1521): Mille regretz:
• 8des Prez: Mille regretz03:11
• Orlande de Lassus (1532 - 1594): Magnum opus musicum:
• 9Lassus: Magnum opus musicum: Domine quid multiplicati03:22
• William Byrd (1543 - 1623): Sing joyfully to God:
• 10Byrd: Sing joyfully to God02:26
• Lullaby, My Sweet Little Baby:
• 11Byrd: Lullaby, My Sweet Little Baby05:04
• Thomas Tallis (1505 - 1585): If Ye love me:
• 12Tallis: If Ye love me02:19
• Total Runtime41:06

Info for Art choral vol. 1: Renaissance

Ensemble ArtChoral and Mécénat Musica are proud to present Art choral, Vol. 1 : Renaissance with Ensemble ArtChoral under the direction of Matthias Maute. Volume 1 surveys choral repertoire by Renaissance composers such as Cristóbal de Morales and Tomás Luis de Victoria (Spain), Andrea Gabrieli and Cipriano de Rore (Italy), Clément Jannequin and Josquin des Prés (France), and Thomas Tallis and William Byrd (England), in music that reflects the flowering of vocal polyphony in Renaissance Europe.

The invention of polyphony in the West during the high Middle Ages, and its subsequent flourishing, are directly related to the practice of choral music, which in turn is related to the existence of such Christian institutions as churches, chapels, and abbeys. At the dawn of the 1400s, after the achievements of Ars Antiqua and Ars Nova in previous centuries, composers—first the English, then, notably, the Franco-Flemish—began laying the groundwork for a new, euphonic, kind of counterpoint, which would remain the main concern of composers up to the time of Bach and beyond.

Seeking harmonic fullness, they attenuated the dissonances that arose as voices moved independently by delays, suspensions, and other kinds of syncopation; they featured intervals of thirds and sixths; they introduced the procedures of imitation, giving the same melodic material to all voices, high and low; and sometimes they modified the melodies by augmenting or diminishing note values, and by subjecting them to various inversions and transformations. This formal severity was soon relaxed by recourse to homophony, another enhancement of the palette of compositional techniques. Originating in Italian folk music, homophony is the musical texture produced when voices simultaneously sing the same syllables on different notes, thus producing chords.

Let us remember that, throughout musical history, compositions are molded by contemporary cosmological concepts. During the Renaissance such concepts featured analogies and symbols, and meant that music had to take account of universal laws: that the measured and numbered proportions of musical form and rhythm should reflect the divine harmonies of celestial spheres; that the motions of voices should establish connections between macrocosm and microcosm.

The 16th century began with Josquin des Prés, born in Picardy. Josquin, who spent a good part of his career in Italy, including a post with the papal choir, had supreme mastery over the most complex contrapuntal procedures. Sometimes he handled the opposition between vocal groups within the same composition by resorting to homophonic sections, breaking the intertwining melodic lines to produce, instead, harmony. As well, noticeable in his works is a new concern: that the music should illustrate the sense of the words. His four-part song Mille regretz, extremely popular in his time and long a favorite of Emperor Charles V, still retains all its enchanting charm.

Ensemble ArtChoral
Matthias Maute, direction

Ensemble ArtChoral
(formerly Ensemble vocal Arts-Québec) is a professional choir whose mission is to present the great tradition of choral singing in Quebec, Canada, and abroad. Following almost 40 years of leadership by founder Yves Courville, in 2018 the choir appointed two-time JUNO Award winner Matthias Maute as its artistic director. The Ensemble received the Opus Award for Musical Event of the Year in 2020.

Since Matthias Maute’s nomination as its artistic director in 2019, the choir has increased the number of its concerts from three to a dozen per year in Québec and Canada, making a stellar impression in performances in the Maison symphonique with soprano Karina Gauvin (including an album recorded with ATMA Classique) and concerts at the Montréal Baroque Festival and Ottawa’s Music and Beyond festival.

From its inception, Ensemble ArtChoral has chosen to perform works from the great masterpieces of the repertoire for the choir. Following upon the success of its performances of Handel’s oratorio The Triumph of Time and Truth, the choir was chosen to take part in Ensemble Caprice’s 30th-anniversary celebration performances of Bach’s B Minor Mass in Bourgie Hall. Since 2018, the choir has been touring widely in Québec and Canada.

In 2019, Ensemble ArtChoral celebrated 40 years of musical excellence.

In 2020, Ensemble ArtChoral cofounded the initiative Mini-Concerts Santé. 4,900 free Mini-Concerts Santé were delivered from door-to-door to 36,000 children, adolescents, seniors, adults, and families suffering impacts from the pandemic (isolation, loneliness, psychological distress) in 648 disadvantaged streets in 97 regions, cities and neighbourhoods of Québec and Ontario.

From 2021 to 2023 Ensemble ArtChoral, is undertaking project like no other in the world: Art Choral, the history of choral singing through six centuries. Works by 50 composers from the 16th to the 21st century, with 12 albums, 12 streaming concerts and 120 videoclips distributed in 170 countries, in partnership with ATMA Classique and Mécénat Musica.

Booklet for Art choral vol. 1: Renaissance