Jacob Obrecht

3448 Views 13 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Mandryka, Dec 27, 2015

Manxfeeder

Discussion Starter · Jul 28, 2011

Jacob Obrecht (1457-1505) died too young; Josquin Desprez outlived and overshadowed him. But he was very forward-thinking; as R.D. Ross observed, his "motets reveal the extent to which tonal root movements had overtaken modal root movements possibly for the first time in music history." Or as Richard Staines puts it, it "represents an early stage in the evolution of diatonic tonality."

He lived in times when masses were based on a cantus firmus (a predetermined melody), and he was skilled at manipulating it as a structural device. His Missa Maria Zart is almost Brucknerian in its length and structure; he breaks the chant up into segments for development.

"Obrecht's premature death deprived Europe of one of its most formidable musical intellects," Richard Staines observed.

Has anyone else explored his music?

Save

1 - 1 of 14 Posts

Chordalrock

· #11 · Dec 12, 2015

Manxfeeder said:
And if you ever find a recording of his Missa Fortuna Desperata, please drop me a line.

There appear to be some copies left:

http://shop.orf.at/1/shop.tmpl?art=4444&lang=EN

Perhaps you've heard of this release already. It's a double album with the masses "Fortuna desperata" and "Rose playsante". The kyries of both masses are Obrecht at his best, and some of the best Renaissance music from those decades, at least to my ears.

The singers do a fine enough job, maybe a bit too slow in tempo, and with a rather strange balance, with the bass dominating, especially in "Fortuna desperata", and the tenor sometimes being drowned out. On the other hand, you have close miking and everything that that implies, as well as generally excellent singing.

Save

1 - 1 of 14 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month