Orlando Consort

Formed in 1988 by the Early Music Centre of Great Britain, the Orlando Consort has rapidly achieved a reputation as one of the most expert and consistently challenging groups performing repertoire from the years 1050 to 1500. While all four singers in the group are established soloists, they also contribute enormous experience and expertise in the field of early music gained through working with groups such as the Tallis Scholars and the Gabrieli and Taverner Consorts. Working with leading academics on music that has often never been performed in modern times, they have set new standards of performance, particularly with regard to the pronunciation and tuning of this fascinating repertoire. For their work on the extraordinary techniques of 12th Century Aquitanian polyphony they were awarded the 1996 Noah Greenberg Award by the American Musicological Society. In recent times the Consort has also attracted considerable attention for their imaginative programming of contemporary music.

Discography

Medieval Christmas

Christe redemptor Alleluia V. Dies sanctificatus Lux refulget Annus renascitur De quan qu'on peut Tout mon désir Ce jour de l'an (Guillaume Dufay) Ave rex angelorum Eya, martyr Stephane Vox in Rama (Clemens non Papa) Lullay, lullow: I saw a swete semely sight O admirabile commercium Pastores loquebantur (Clemens non Papa) Noel, noel, noel (Antoine Busnois) Noe, noe, noe (Antoine Brumel) Nato canunt omnia (Antoine Brumel)

Although Medieval Christmas celebrations primarily consisted of over-eating, flirtation, hunting and drinking, each day began with a mass. Sacred and secular traditions and customs were often intertwined as part of a season of celebration which culminated with the feast of the Epiphany. On this new CD, the Orlando Consort offers an unusual & wide-ranging collection of secular and liturgical music from England, France and the Low Countries. To read the texts of these pieces is to un-knot the various traditions that are otherwise confused by today’s pick-and-mix carol concerts. While not strictly chronological, the disc is divided into five sections - Prophecy, New Year’s Day, The Carol, Narrative Motets and Noel - which illustrate key themes of the music of this period.

The Rose, The Lily & the Whortleberry

Rose, liz, rondeau El mois de mai - De se debent - Kyrie Hé marotele / En praerie / Aptat, motet Passerose de beauté Flos regalis virginalis Missa Flos Regalis Quam pulchra es Soubz les branches / En la rousée / Jolis mois de may, chanson Royne des flours Dindirín, dindirín En la fuente del Rosel Hortus Conclusus Aquella Mora Garrida Quasi cedrus Changeons propos Sicut Lilium Inter Spinas Vidi speciosam Haec est illa dulcis rosa / Salve Da le belle contrade d'oriente I vaghi fiori e l'amorose fronde Ecce tu pulcher es Des herbes ai assés Au ioly bocquet croist la violette O flos campi

In celebration of the floral imagery used by many of Europe's greatest composers over a span of 300 years to depict both earthly and heavenly love, the Orlando Consort sings poetic texts ranging from the sacred to the downright suggestive. Includes essays by Sir Roy Strong, Susan Hitch; and a garden design created by Christopher Bradley-Hole. Also included is a handsomely illustrated book full of beautiful medieval paintings and photographs of surviving gardens. Additional notes are contributed by Sir Roy Strong, President of the Garden History Society of England; Susan Hitch, an expert in medieval literature and a BBC Radio 3 presenter; and Christopher Bradley-Hole, one of the world’s top garden designers, who contributes a plan for your very own neo-medieval garden.

Food, Wine & Song

In paupertatis predio (anon) Chanconette / Ainc voir / A la cheminee / Par verite (anon) Prenes l'abre / He resveille toi Robin (Adam De La Halle) Nes qu'on porroit (Guillaume de Machaut) Apparuerunt apostolis v. Spiritus Domini (anon) Nowell, nowell: The boares head (Richard Smert) Si quis amat (anon) Cacciano per gustar (Antonio Zachara da Teramo) Canto de' cardoni (anon) Donna di dentro / Dammene un pocho (Heinrich Isaac) Canto di donne maestre di far cacio (anon) Adieu ces bons vins de Lannoys (Guillaume Dufay) Je ne vis onques (Gilles Binchois) Sile fragor (Loyset Compere) La plus grant chiere (anon) La tricotea (anon) Ave color vini clari (Juan Ponce) Oy comamos y bebamos (Juan del Encina) Quem tem farelos (anon) Von Eyren (Matthias Greiter) Von edler Art (Ludwig Senfl) Trinkt und singt (anon)

In Food, Wine and Song, the Orlando Consort serves up a variety of music from the late Medieval through Renaissance periods, each song featuring texts about food and drink. The CD begins in late medieval France and England and moves chronologically through Italy, Burgundy, Spain, Portugal, ending in late Renaissance Germany. The sound of the quartet is always outstanding and this CD is no exception. The doleful ?Adieu ces bons vins de Lannoys? (track 15), by Guillaume Dufay is particularly beautiful with its sorrowful melody and haunting harmonies. As an added bonus, included with this CD is an accompanying cookbook. Prepared by world renowned chefs, these tasty recipes correspond with ingredients found in the songs. A number even come from medieval sources. For a real treat, try the Orange Omelette for Pimps and Harlots! For a true feast, try Food, Wine and Song. It will surely please the palate.

7083 CD $15.98

Antoine Busnois

Motet: Gaude caelestis Domina Chanson: Aune damme j'ay fait veu Chanson: Amours nous traitte honnestement/Je m'en voy Chanson-Motet: Resjois-toy, terre de France/Rex pacificus Hymn: Conditor alme siderum Missa O Crux lignum Kyrie Gloria Credo Sanctus Benedictus Agnus Dei Chanson: Ja que li ne s'I attende Chanson: Vostre beaute'/Vous marches du bout du pie' Chanson: Est-il merchy de quoy on puet finer? Motet: Incomprehensibilia/ Praeter rerum ordinem

The music of Antoine Busnois has inspired intense interest in recent times. With this survey of the different genres - sacred and secular - in which Busnois excelled, the Orlando Consort demonstrates the composer's supreme technical mastery, his melodic flair, and his rhythmic vitality. A comprehensive portrait of an early-Renaissance genius.

Stella celi (anon) Quam pulcra es (John Pyamour) Tota pulcra es (? Forest) Gloria (John Benet) Salve scema (John Dunstaple) Credo (John Benet) Total pulcra es (John Plummer) O pulcherrima (anon) Sanctus (anon) O sanctissime presul (anon) Anna mater matris (John Plummer) Audivi vocem (anon) Ave regina celorum (Walter Frye) Beata Dei genitrix (Richard Mowere) Ave regina celorum (anon) Gaude virgo (anon) Nesciens mater (John Trouluffe) Stella celi (Walter Lambe)

The Orlando Consort sings rare and exquisite church music from 15th Century England, including motets, antiphons and psalm settings by Dunstaple, Frye, Plummer and others. This program spans some seventy years of English sacred music, dating from the reigns of Henry V, Henry VI and Edward IV, and the period of unrest known as the Wars of the Roses. It illustrates the rise of the so-called contenance angloise (English manner)‹valued especially for its suave melody, fluid rhythms and prevailing consonance‹from its beginnings around 1420 to the repertory of the Eton Choirbook at the end of the 15th century. Sadly only a tiny proportion of the music that must have been written in this period has survived, but the pieces included in this anthology provide vivid testimony to this astonishingly rich and varied repertoire.

7084 CD $15.98

Ave rex noster (Mondejar) Gaude virgo (La Rue) Libera me, Domine (Anchieta) Versa est in luctum (Penalosa) Adoramoste, Senor (La Torre) Je n'ay dueil (Agricola) Si dedero (Agricola) Missa Nunca Fue Pena Mayor: Kyrie (La Rue) Ora baila tu (Anon) Autant en emporte le vent (La Rue) Justa fue mi perdicion (La Torre) Andad, pasiones, andad (Lagarto) O desolatorum consolator (Divitis) Mater patris (Brumel) Oyan todos mi tormento (Mondejar) Secretz regretz (La Rue) A la caca (Luchas) In te, Domine, speravi (Josquin) Ave sanctissimum (Aux) Ave festiva ferculis (Attrib. Josquin) Missa L'homme arme: credo (Penalosa)

An encounter between two powerful dynasties. The Orlando Consort revisits a fascinating meeting between two musical cultures. During his 1502 ceremonial visit to Toledo (Spain), Philip the Fair of Burgundy, and his Royal hosts, Ferdinand and Isabella, vied to display the artistic achievements of their respective realms. Music was central to all the festivities: solemn celebrations, worship, courtly banquets, dances and chivalric entertainments. "Immaculate tuning, rhythmic concision and clear articulation of the text." - BBC Music Magazine.

7086 CD $15.98

Novus Annus Hodie Ut Iam Cessit Fulget Dies Celebris Vetus Abit Littera Procedenti Puero Mater Dei Salus Rei In Sompnis Mira Huic Et Placuit Viderunt Omnes Angelus Ad Virginem Flos Regalis Beata Viscera Orientis Partibus Salve Sancta Parens Virgo Maria Edi Beo Thu Super Te Jerusalem O Nobilis Nativitas There Is No Rose St Thomas Honour We Nowell, Nowell: The Boare's Head

Music & Carols for a Medieval Christmas. The music on this recording goes back to the very origins of musical composition. The centerpiece, Perotin’s Viderunt omnes, can also be said to mark the beginning of the concept of musical history, since it is one of the first pieces whose precise details of performance (place, date and context) are known, carefully recorded and preserved for the information of future generations.

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