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Alexander Agricola (1446 - 1506)
Missa Malheur me bat
Missa In minen sin
Ensemble:
A.N.S. Chorus
Conductor:
Janos Bali
Alexander Agricola (1456?–1506) is only beginning to get much attention either in musicology or on records. Alejandro Planchart recently rediscovered a 1476 document from Cambrai cathedral, the earliest known reference to the composer, that calls him "young," hardly a word that would refer to someone born (as was commonly thought) about 1446. But it makes it easier to accept the lack of any further information before 1492, when he ceased to sing at the French court. In 1500, after spending some time in Italy, he arrived at the Burgundian court, and in 1506, he accompanied the duke to Spain, where both died of the plague in Valladolid.
This choir has brought to light some little-known Masses of the early Renaissance (two previous discs offered four Masses of Obrecht). The only previous recording of a Mass by this composer is a composite of five different works made by Paul Van Nevel that includes the Agnus Dei from one of these Masses. Agricola was born in Ghent a decade earlier than Obrecht and died a year after him. In the last six years of his life, he sang in the Burgundian chapel and died of the plague in Spain with the duke. Only recently Rob Wegman has published new information about his earlier career in Cambrai, Milan, Florence, Ferrara, Naples and the French court. He wrote Masses, sacred music in many forms, chansons and instrumental pieces.
These are long Masses, almost 40 minutes each, based on secular cantus firmi. Malheur me bat is the song by Malcort or Martini (a matter of dispute) on which Obrecht based a mass already recorded by Bali. The other Mass is based on an anonymous Flemish tune that was also used frequently. The two Masses are more similar than contrasting, although in Fabrice Fitch's words the Agnus Dei of the latter Mass is more "bizarre." This choir of men's voices has a distinctive sound, more angular than the homogeneous tone of Renaissance vocal ensembles further west.
Tracklist:
Missa Malheur me bat (38:26)
01. Kyrie
02. Christe
03. Kyrie
04. Gloria in excelsis Deo - Et in terra
05. Qui tollis
06. Credo in unum Deum - Patrem
07. Crucifixus
08. Et resurrexit
09. Et ascendit
10. Sanctus
11. Pleni sunt
12. Osanna
13. Benedictus
14. Osanna ut supra
15. Agnus I
16. Agnus II
17. Agnus III
Missa In minen sin (39:09)
18. Gloria in excelsis Deo - Et in terra
19. Domine Deus
20. Domine Fili
21. Qui tollis
22. Cum Sancto Spiritu
23. Credo in unum Deum - Patrem
24. Et incarnatus est
25. Et resurrexit
26. Sanctus
27. Pleni sunt
28. Osanna I
29. Benedictus + Osanna II
30. Agnus I
31. Agnus II
32. Qui tollis (a 2) + Miserere
33. Agnus III
MORE INFO:
HUNGAROTON CLASSIC

