This time last year Toronto’s Diapente(1) and Montreal’s Comtessa(2) performed together at St. Thomas’ Anglican. On Saturday afternoon they were together again in the same venue for a programme of music by Guillaume de Machaut. Considering it was works by one composer the programme was really very varied.
The bookends were the Kyrie and Gloria from La Messe de Notre Dame. With all the musicians involved they were predictably grand with antiophonal and polyphonic vocals and substantial instrumental interludes. In between we got pretty much every form de Marchaut composed in; complainte, verelai, rondeaux, ballade, motet and lai with just about every permutation of singers and instruments.
I’m just going to highlight a few numbers to give a sense of the variety. Tels rit au main qui au soir pleure is a simple setting of de Machaut’s own poetry presented here with Alexander singing and reciting rather emphatically to a light lute accompaniment. Later Len sang the long and passionate Pour ce qu’on puist rather beautifully with a simple vielle accompaniment (with a wee bit of lute). There was also the very jolly Moult sui de bonne heure nee sung very nicely by Peter to the accompaniment of lute and vielle.
On the other hand the motets were much grander and more complex. Fiat voluntas tua was sung a cappella by Jane, Peter, Alexander and Martin while Fera pessima got the full treatment with everyone involved in this up tempo and very complex piece. Another large scale piece was Vos doux resgars for sopranos, tenor and counter-tenor with organelle, lute and vielle. This is a rondeaux and sounded very medieval indeed.
There were instrumentals too. Rose, liz, printemps is a stately rondeaux for organelle, vielle and lute and was maybe the best chance to hear what Maria can do with that rather odd instrument the organelle! In a simpler vein there was an estampie simply for vielle and hand drum.
All in all, a very varied, excellently performed and thoroughly enjoyable concert.
[1] Peter Koniers (countertenor), Jonathan Stuchberry (tenor and lute), Jane Fingler (soprano), Alexander Cappellazzo (tenor) and Martin Gomes (bass).
[2] Isabelle Douailly-Backman (vielle and rebec), Len Torrie (soprano) and Maria Gajraj (organetto).
Photo credit: JDHD | @jd_hd._
