The notes for this release by conductor Björn Schmelzer are given in English, French, German, and Spanish; the texts, mostly in Latin or medieval French, appear only in French and English. Some will contend that the notes are crazy, and indeed the same accusation was made against the vocal works of Alexander Agricola in their own time. But there is such a thing as salutary nonsense. Schmelzer's premise is that Agricola was blind ("cecus" in Latin), and that his music involved a detailed representation of the experience of ...
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The notes for this release by conductor Björn Schmelzer are given in English, French, German, and Spanish; the texts, mostly in Latin or medieval French, appear only in French and English. Some will contend that the notes are crazy, and indeed the same accusation was made against the vocal works of Alexander Agricola in their own time. But there is such a thing as salutary nonsense. Schmelzer's premise is that Agricola was blind ("cecus" in Latin), and that his music involved a detailed representation of the experience of blindness. More specifically, the evidence rests on an odd, textless Agricola composition, in three parts and apparently instrumental, called Cecus non judicat de coloribus ("A blind man does not judge colors"); here it is split into its two sections, with motets by Agricola and other composers in between. The evidence that this work is autobiographical, or even that Agricola was indeed blind, is hazy. Cecus non judicat de coloribus is a sort of catalog of contrapuntal devices, and...
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