There are various collections of music by Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377) on the market. They tend to have a certain sameness and to hit a few well-known works. One of those is probably the first "meta" composition in the European repertory, the rondeau Ma fin est mon commencement (My end is my beginning), and that is indeed heard here, in a fine, forceful performance. However, there are also features that put this release by the Orlando Consort ahead of the competition. The program includes a varied selection of ...
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There are various collections of music by Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377) on the market. They tend to have a certain sameness and to hit a few well-known works. One of those is probably the first "meta" composition in the European repertory, the rondeau Ma fin est mon commencement (My end is my beginning), and that is indeed heard here, in a fine, forceful performance. However, there are also features that put this release by the Orlando Consort ahead of the competition. The program includes a varied selection of Machaut's composition types, including three of the monophonic pieces that are often left out but that are essential to an understanding of his work. When sung clearly and sensitively, as they are here, they are the purest distillation of Machaut's ability to fuse formal intricacy with his own poetic subjectivity. That subjectivity is on full display in the 18-minute lai En demantant et lamentant, a remarkable first-person work probably written to commemorate the defeat and capture of...
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