Tuesday, 14 September 1999, 8pm
Xavier College Chapel, Kew
Subscription Concert 3
Lassus, not Palestrina, was considered by his contemporaries to be the outstanding composer of his generation. He was certainly the most versatile, and he was extraordinarily prolific. A child of his time, he did not hesitate to build on material from works by his forerunners and contemporaries. This program presents some of the results of such homage, in each case preceded by the model.
PROGRAM
Josquin Desprez Huc me sydereo descendere iussit Olympo
Clemens non Papa Fremuit spiritu Jesus
Nicolas Gombert Mort et fortune
Jachet da Mantua Domine secundum actum meum
Orlande de Lassus Huc me sydereo descendere iussit Olympo
Orlande de Lassus Fremuit spiritu Jesus
Orlande de Lassus Magnificat tertii toni super Mort et fortune
Orlande de Lassus Missa Domine secundum actum meum
| SOPRANO | ALTO | TENOR | BASS |
| Deborah Summerbell | Margaret Arnold | Peter Campbell | Andrew Fyrsh |
| Carol Veldhoven | Jenny George | Frank Prain | Thomas Drent |
| Margaret Pearce | Barbara Tattam | Vaughan McAlley | Philip Nicholls |
| Claerwen Jones | Jennifer Mathers | Stuart Tennant | Jerzy Kozlowski |
| Maria Pisani |
–
REVIEW
Friday, 17 September 1999, Herald-Sun [Melbourne], page 90.
Ensemble’s angelic voices simply heavenly
Johanna Selleck
ENSEMBLE Gombert are planning a big birthday party for next year – and so they should.
For almost 10 years they have enriched the cultural life of Melbourne, thrilling audiences with their purity of
sound and ability to make phrase endings melt imperceptibly into thin air.
Their voices resonate around the Xavier College Chapel like a mysterious emanation from some
unidentifiable source.
The 17 or so men and women who comprise the ensemble emit the most angelic sounds with the barest
visible exertion. The result is natural and unforced, a flowing stream. This concert explored work by the
master of Renaissance polyphony, Orlande de Lassus.
The four programmed works by Lassus were juxtaposed with examples by some contemporaries who had
either set the same texts or provided direct models for his own works.
Huc me sydereo descendere iussit Olympo by Josquin Desprez was followed by Lassus’ setting of the same,
then Fremuit spiritu Jesus, by Clemens non Papa was compared with Lassus.
As always with Ensemble Gombert, the outer parts were unswerving, while the inner parts meshed
beautifully.
Either side of interval came Gombert’s Chanson mort et fortune and Lassus’ Magnificat tertii toni super mort
et fortune, which derives from it, and Lassus’ Missa Domine secundum actum meum prefaced by the motet
by Jachet da Mantua which served as the model.
Lassus’ setting of the mass enhances the text to a level of supreme, seraphic beauty.
Ensemble Gombert demonstrated their ability to tap into the mystical side of this music and immerse the
listener. It was an experience not to be missed.