Chromatic Renaissance
EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble/James Weeks
rec. 2025, St. Batholomew’s Church, Orford, UK
Texts not included
Reviewed as a digital download
Winter & Winter 910 293-2 [59]

Recently I reviewed a disc with music by Francesc Valls (c1671-1747). The most remarkable piece on that disc is the Composicion Enharmonica para Instrumentos de Arco, which consists entirely of microtones. The disc that is the subject of this review brings us back to the time when the first compositions of this kind were written. The programme that the Exaudi Vocal Ensemble recorded, is inspired by the man who wrote such pieces and treated the use of the enharmonic genus in a treatise, published in 1555. In that treatise Nicola Vicentino included several examples. Unfortunately, these examples – mostly excerpts from his own madrigals – are virtually the only specimens of his use of enharmonic genus.

Vicentino did not ‘invent’ the enharmonic genus. At least, he did not claim that it was his invention. As a man of the Renaissance, he looked back at Greek Antiquity. Representatives of the Renaissance saw what they thought to be the aesthetic ideals of the Greek as something to revive. This was highly speculative but caused a lively debate, the most famous of which was the one between Vicentino and the Portuguese composer Vicente Lusitano in Rome in 1551. By all accounts, Vicentino lost the debate, but that did not withhold him from exposing his views in the treatise mentioned above. (Lusitano pointed out his views in a treatise of his own, published in 1553). It is a rather complicated subject, according to Pedro Sousa Silva, in the liner-notes to his recording of music by Lusitano, “a topic requiring such nuanced understanding that it borders on the limits of human perception” [review].

Let my quote how it is explained in the article on Vicentino in New Grove. “Instead of considering the diatonic, chromatic or enharmonic tetrachord as a unit, he maintained that the use of any one of its component members was sufficient to identify the genus. Thus, chromatic could be represented either by the complete series: minor 3rd–semitone–semitone, or by the minor 3rd alone or a semitone alone. Similarly, the use of the major 3rd could be interpreted as evidence for the existence of the enharmonic genus. In essence then, the music commonly sung was a mixture of the three genera. Lusitano disputed this, arguing that most music could be explained in terms of the diatonic gender.” Vicentino not only composed music in the enharmonic genus, but also created a two-manual harpsichord which was able to play in it (archicembalo) as well as an organ of the same kind.

Apart from the pieces by Vicentino, the programme is dominated by the use of chromaticism. This was also an invention of the early 16th century, and was to become a fixed part of the toolbox of composers. In this respect one can always question whether composers used it as a kind of experiment – chromaticism for chromaticism’s sake – or for expressive reasons. The programme includes some of the Prophetiae Sibyllarum by Orlandus Lassus, where he makes extensive use of chromaticism, although the texts hardly require it. The collection even opens with a Carmina chromatico. James Weeks, in his liner-notes, writes: “The result [of the use of chromaticism] is a general feeling of disorientation, clearly with the intention of conjuring the mysterious, otherworldly aura of these enigmatic utterances, a communication not quite rooted in the human.” There can be no doubt of the reasons for chromaticism in Lassus’ motet Timor et tremor: “Fear and trembling are come upon me, and darkness has fallen upon me. Have mercy upon me, Lord, for in you have I put my trust.”

Likewise, and probably surprising, given his views expressed in the debate with Vicentino, Lusitano composed a motet almost entirely based on chromaticism. It ends with a complete descending chromatic scale over an octave and a fifth, passing from cantus to bassus parts. Weeks describes it as “an extreme technical exercise”. However, the text gives every reason to use chromaticism: “Woe is me, Lord, for I have sinned too much in my life: what should I, wretched, do; where should I flee if not to you, my God? Free me, Lord, from eternal death, on that terrible day, on that day when the skies are to be moved, and the earth”. This is a clear reference to the Dies irae from the Requiem mass.

The programme closes with madrigals by two of the main composers of madrigals of the Renaissance (Rore, Marenzio) and with a composer on the brink of a new era: Luzzaschi. The three madrigals by Rore demonstrate why he was considered one of the most influential madrigal composers of the 16th century, and one of those who aimed at a close connection between text and music. Here the use of chromaticism is entirely inspired by the text. Giulio Cesare Monteverdi, Claudio’s brother, in 1607 even claimed that the seconda pratica had begun with Rore. The two madrigals by Marenzio are settings of texts by Petrarch. O voi che sospirate is diatonic until the penultimate phrase, after which the music returns to the diatonical. On the other hand, Solo e pensoso, his most famous madrigal, starts with a chromatic line in the upper part, and chromaticism returns later. Even without it, this is a harmonically disturbing piece, reflecting the piece’s content.

With Luzzaschi, the seconda pratica makes itself heard. The two madrigals included here omit a basso continuo part, which Luzzaschi uses in other pieces, but they are more declamatory in their treatment of the text. That goes especially for Itene mie querele, in which “eterno duolo” (eternal suffering) and “dolorosi stridi” (lamenting cries) are singled out, performed to dynamic outbursts.

Although the Exaudi Vocal Ensemblw does perform early music (it has recorded madrigals by Gesualdo), the core of its activities is the performance of modern and contemporary repertoire. Given the treatment of harmony in the latter, it is not surprising that it is interested in the kind of music that is the subject of this disc. In both fields a precise intonation is essential, and that is one of the features of these performances. The fact that the singers work together on a regular basis helps to ensure that ensemble is impeccable. It is nice that the peculiar features of the various pieces are not displayed in a demonstrative way; the music is sung as it comes. The liner-notes point out what is special in each piece, which is of great help. It is advisable to look at the label’s website for the lyrics with translations. It is a bit of a shame that they are not included in the booklet and can only be read online. It would have been good if they had been available for downloading.

Anyway, this is a fascinating disc, which illustrates a stage in music history that is little-known, but has been of great importance. It deserves a place in any collection of Renaissance music.

Johan van Veen

www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen

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Previous review: Dominy Clements

Contents

Orlandus Lassus (1532-1594)
Timor et tremor
Prophetiae Sibyllarum:
Carmina chromatico
I. Sibylla Persica
IX. Sibylla Europæa
X. Sibylla Tiburtina
XI. Sibylla Erythræa
XII. Sibylla Agrippa
Vicente Lusitano (c1520-c1561)
Heu me, Domine
Nicola Vicentino (1511-c1576)
Hierusalem
Musica prisca caput
Soav’e dolc’ardore (fragm)
Dolce mio ben (fragm)
Madonna, il poco dolce (fragm)
Poi che’l mio largo pianto
Orlandus Lassus
Anna, mihi dilecta
Cipriano de Rore (c1515-1565)
Da le belle contrade d’oriente
Calami sonum ferentes
O sonno
Luca Marenzio (1553-1599)
O voi che sospirate
Solo e pensoso
Luzzasco Luzzaschi (c1540-1607)
Quivi sospiri pianti
Itene mie querele