Category: Concerts

Tuesday 14 December 1999, 8pm
Wednesday 15 December 1999, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Kew

Subscription Concert 5

PROGRAM

Tomás Luis de Victoria  O magnum mysterium
Tomás Luis de Victoria Quem vidistis, pastores?
Heinrich Isaac Puer natus est nobis
Nicolas Gombert Hodie nobis caelorum
Clemens non Papa Vox in Rama
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina O admirabile commercium
John Sheppard Reges Tharsis et insulae
Orlande de Lassus Omnes de Saba venient
Tomás Luis de Victoria Senex puerum portabat
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Nunc dimittis (à 12)
William Byrd Mass for Five Voices with Propers In festo Purificationis:
William Byrd Susceptimus Deus
William Byrd Senex puerum portabat
William Byrd Diffusa est gratia
William Byrd Responsum accepit Simeon

Note: This was not the program advertised in the Subscription brochure, which was all Victoria

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REVIEW

Friday, 17 December 1999, The Age [Melbourne], page 6
The usual Christmas fare
Clive O’Connell

IN AN evening of Christmas music for the sophisticated, John O’Donnell’s Ensemble Gombert presented
another “Christmas to Candlemas” program, concluding yet another year’s recital cycle.
Here again was the usual compendium of seasonal music by famous Renaissance writers – Palestrina, Byrd,
Victoria, Lassus – with excursions into more arcane names like Isaac, Sheppard, Clemens non Papa and the
group’s namesake.
Some of the first half’s motets we have heard in previous years, such as Gombert’s Hodie nobis caelorum,
Victoria’s touching Senex puerum portabat and the massive motet for double choir by Lassus, Omnes de Saba
venient.
The group’s vocal mix has gained somewhat in depth and character since I last heard the ensemble in this
chapel. Both sopranos and altos maintain an authoritative clarity and sparkling, clear color rarely achieved by
other groups, and so startling when there is the slightest crack in this group’s vocal veneer.
While there are still three basses only, all have years of experience; even when the part is divided, their
voices provide a calm, non-blustery support for the rest of the forces.
The tenor quartet has a pair of well-matched voices and two that struggle to achieve security and ease of
articulation.
In the evening’s most vocally diffuse offering – Palestrina’s 12-part Nunc dimittis – one could pick out most of
the individual lines at various stages, but the tenors were the least discernible and definite.
Nevertheless, the program’s second half, comprising Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices interspersed with the
composer’s own Propers for the Feast of the Purification, showed the Gomberts at close to their best. The
voices rarely came under stress and the subtleties that grace each line at various points (notably the “Agnus
Dei”, a highpoint in Tudor music) were delivered without overstatement or unnecessary color.
Clive O’Connell/Courtesy The Age

Tuesday, 9 November 1999, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Kew

Subscription Concert 4

Settings of the Requiem tend to be high points in composersÕ outputs. Often the setting has been written in memory of a particular person dear to the composer, which may explain the high level of inspiration. The three settings on this program are works that we have performed to acclaim over the past few years. It will be a very rich experience indeed to perform and hear them all in one concert.

PROGRAM

Johannes Ockeghem Missa pro defunctis
Pierre de la Rue Missa pro defunctis
Jean Richafort Missa pro defunctis

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REVIEW
Friday, 12 November 1999 – The Age [Melbourne], page 4
Food of love satisfies the mind and soul
Joel Crotty

[…] While the Gryphon Gallery has a vibrant acoustic and rowdy neighbors, the quiet exterior and airy interior of
Xavier College’s chapel makes it a perfect space for Ensemble Gombert’s choral concerts. As usual, the
Gombert’s music director and conductor, John O’Donnell, came up with a fascinating concept of comparing
of three requiems composed by three composers across three different generations, straddling the 15th and
16th centuries. It was a bewitching trip across the Renaissance frontier.
Ockeghem’s Missa pro defunctis demonstrated his propensity for dark-toned colors and his ability to allow
the counterpoint to majestically flow without being unduly hampered by cadential points. The 11 voices
(sopranos were omitted) blended well in the different configurations. Full credit must go to the three basses –
Andrew Fysh, Philip Nicholls and Jerzy Kozlowski – who were uniformly excellent during the event. Pierre de la Rue, from the middle generation, was represented by his Missa pro fidelibus defunctis . The
complexities of the work rarely seemed to faze the 16 choristers, and the Sanctus was rendered in such a
stunning fashion that it was the highlight of the evening. But by the time youngest member of the trio –
Richafort – was presented to the audience, the group was starting to show signs of fatigue.
Nonetheless, Ensemble Gombert nourished the soul and, on the previous night, the Southbank Contemporary
Music Ensemble invigorated the mind.
Joel Crotty/Courtesy of The Age

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

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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.

Saturday, 17 April 1999, 8 pm
St John’s Anglican Church, Sorrento
Sorrento Subscription Concerts (Oz Classique Concerts)

Tuesday, 20 April 1999, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Kew.
Subscription Concert 1

PROGRAM

Robert Wylkinson Salve regina
John Taverner Missa Corona spinea
Thomas Tallis Miserere nostri, Domine
Christopher Tye Omnes gentes plaudite
Robert White Miserere nostri, Domine
Osbert Parsley Conserva me, Domine
William Byrd Quomoda cantabimus?

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REVIEWS

Friday, 23 April 1999, The Herald Sun [Melbourne], page 78.
Striking a chord
Johanna Selleck

AFTER last year’s perusal of choral treasures from Renaissance Italy, Melbourne’s very own vocal treasure
Ensemble Gombert opened their l999 season in Tudor England.
In Tuesday evening’s celebration of the “glories of English polyphony”, the choir filled the Xavier College
Chapel with that ethereal, floating resonance that is their hallmark.
The elaborate melismas in both Robert Wylkynson’s Salve regina and John Tavener’s Missa Corona spinea
were like luminous golden threads weaving through a rich tapestry of sound.
Ensemble Gombert unravelled them with sensitivity and shapeliness.
The same works present a shining variety of textures and vocal combinations, however the sparser moments
entail hidden traps, often leaving the individual parts unsympathetically exposed.
Occasionally the upper voices did not achieve the pure, uncontaminated amalgam that they so often do.
At times the mix would also have benefited from a more solid presence from the tenors.
After interval Thomas Tallis’ seven-part canon Miserere nostri, Domine and Christopher Tye’s five-part motet
Omnes gentes plaudie achieved a crystalline clarity.
The points of imitation were pronounced definitively and likewise in William Byrd’s eight-part motet
Quomodo cantabimus the canonic writing was tightly construed and well balanced.
The program included Conserva me, Domine by the innocuously named Osbert Parsley, and Robert White’s
splendid yet sombre Miserere mei, Deus.
Ensemble Gombert display that rare ability to extract the purest essence from the music they perform, and
strike a common chord (psychologically speaking) in all of us.
This is timeless music, which speaks directly to the soul of humanity.
For this reason, and for the uncompromising, consistently high standard that they deliver, Ensemble Gombert
has built up a loyal and devoted following.
There are four more concerts to go in the series, including “Gombert and his contemporaries”, “Lassus and
his heritage” and “Three high Renaissance requiems”.

Tuesday 15 December 1998 at 8pm
Wednesday 16 December at 8pm
Xavier College Chapel, Barkers Rd, Kew

Subscription Concert 5

PROGRAM

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Dies sanctificatus a 4
Lapidabant Stephanum a 4
Hic est disciplinus ille a 5
Innocentes pro Christe a 4
O admirabile commercium a 5
Reges Tharsis a 5
Senex puerum portabat a 5
Nunc dimittus a 12
Hodie Christus natus est a 8
Missa Hodie Christus natus est a 8

SINGERS

REVIEW

Monday 21 December, The Age [Melbourne], page 16.
The year of the Italians
Joel Crotty

Ensemble Gombert’s final offering for 1998 was an all-Palestrina affair, the last in a series of events that have
focussed on Italian Renaissance music.
We have investigated the political life of Florence and Venice through the music of Dufay and Giovanni
Gabrieli, respectively. Moreover, the experimentalism of Gesualdo and Josquin added a colorful dimension to
the season.
As we draw to the close of the 20th century, it is pleasing to know that in the West we have become a
population of musical detectives.
In previous centuries, many Renaissance composers, such as Gesualdo, were buried under the weight of
subsequent musical epochs. It seems almost unthinkable today that Josquin could have been dismissed by
generations of singers as an irrelevancy.
Conversely, Palestrina’s star has only slightly dimmed this century, due in part to musicologists recovering
the other master composers from his time. Nowadays Palestrina is competing for attention in the sprawl that
is music history.
How Palestrina remained such a dominant force in Western music for such a long time is certainly open to
debate. None the less, he was championed by the Catholic Church for centuries because of his conservative
compositional principles.
He wrote music that was restrained and emotionally balanced, and as a consequence, more than adequately
fulfilled the church’s requirements.
His music, however, did not stand the test of time just because he appeased the church hierarchy. Pedagogues
have used his brilliant, though ridged, contrapuntal structures as examples of excellence.
As with all Gombert concerts, John O’Donnell, the choir’s artistic director, programmed the Palestrina event
to explore a range of the composer’s output.
O’Donnell divided the concert into two halves. The first section was concerned with music associated with
some of the festivals within the Christmas to Candlemas period, roughly December to February. In the notes,
he guided us through the archaic rituals with the music as signposts.
This half was almost uniformly good, with only a few wayward spots of minor concern in Innocentes pro
Christe and Reges Tharsis. However, it was the 12-part complexity of Nunc dimittis that was the highlight of the night. And it was the work they also encored.
O’Donnell rearranged the voices on the stage to create a fresh blend and successfully enlivened the
soundscape. Moreover, this revised acoustic base revealed a solid accuracy in the delivery of the musical
lines. It was an example of the glorious purity that Gombert’s 17 voices were capable of obtaining on the
night.
However, the tight ensemble bond seemed to periodically desert them during Missa Hodie Christus natus est.
This difficult finale to the concert realised a few pitching problems and tentative attacks. The Credo, in
particular, seemed to test them in the maintenance of a unified front.
Ensemble Gombert’s 1999 season will be held once again in the Xavier College Chapel. In that space we will
encounter music from English and Franco-Flemish composers such as Byrd and Lassus. After a year with the
Italians, the next series will be positively multicultural.
Joel Crotty/Courtesy of The Age

Friday 18 December 1998, The Age [Melbourne], page 81.
Choral singing’s Renaissance
Johanna Selleck

MELBOURNE has had a “golden age” for unaccompanied choral singing since
Ensemble Gombert began their subscription series four years ago.
The group specialises in Franco-Flemish music of the High Renaissance, but their 1998 season has taken
followers through the rich, colorful Italian Renaissance.
Their final concert for the year was devoted to Palestrina and the sacred works he composed for major feast
days between Christmas and Candlemas (February 2).
Like manna from heaven, Palestrina’s music provided the Catholic church with the perfect antidote to the
“lascivious” music of the time. To inspire the congregation to serious spiritual contemplation, they sought to
purge it from unnecessary complexity and display.
As Ensemble Gombert demonstrated in motets such as O Admirabile Commercium, Palestrina’s music fitted
the bill perfectly.
The clarity and purity of style were tastefully exposed, with a balance between mystical elements and a sense
of grandeur.
A rare moment of insecurity occurred briefly in the upper parts of the motet Innocentes pro Christe.
Otherwise the delivery was confident and precise.
In the Missa Hodie Christus natus est, one of Palestrina’s four parody masses for double choir, the ensemble
traced the wonderfully proportioned contours while maintaining the plasticity of line. The full gamut of
emotions from joy to peaceful meditation was revealed.
Highlight of the first half was undoubtedly the splendid 12-part Nunc Dimittis. Gombert maintained a lucid
transparency of texture, despite the complexity of parts.
The final Amen echoed resplendently in every alcove of the Xavier College Chapel, making it the ideal
choice for final encore.
The group’s ability to achieve such full-bodied sonorities is one of the most enjoyable aspects of their
performances.

Tuesday 15 September 1998
St Patrick’s Cathedral, East Melbourne

Melbourne Early Music Festival
With Concentus Australis

PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach St John Passion

Gerald English, Evangelist
Margaret Pearce, Soprano
David V Russell, Alto
Adrian Dwyer, Tenor
Michael Leighton Jones, Bass
Stephen Grant, Jesus

Choir members unknown

REVIEW

Friday 18 September, The Herald Sun [Melbourne], page 38.
Bach an inspired first night choice
Johanna Selleck

ST Patrick’s Cathedral echoed to the immortal strains of Bach’s St John Passion on Tuesday.
Though this work was the master’s earliest essay in the genre, it was written at the height of his artistic
powers.
An inspired and all-encompassing expression of deepest humanity, it provided exactly the sort of direct and
vivid statement that was needed to make an impact on the opening night of the Early Music Festival.
The team of soloists, the orchestra of Concentus Australis and the choir of Ensemble Gombert gelled under
the expert direction of John O’Donnell. In particular, the graphic realism of Bach’s setting was captured by
Gerald English’s animated, incisive delivery as the Evangelist.
His narration was powerfully offset by Stephen Grant’s mellow portrayal of Jesus, and by some excellent
characterisations on the part of soprano Margaret Pearce, alto David Russell, tenor Adrian Dwyer and bass
Michael Leighton Jones.
Bach employs distinctive instrumental groupings to color the mood of individual arias. Flutes are made to
melt sensuously into the soaring soprano lines, or the tenor voice is cushioned by sombre, softly spoken
strings and organ.
These moments were captured sensitively by Concentus Australis on period instruments. The silken
sonorities of the baroque instruments blend with a subtlety not possible on modern equivalents.
While the orchestra maintained an air of rapt solemnity and pathos, the choir battled to make their presence
felt in the resonant cathedral acoustic which disseminated the sound all too effectively.
Consequently, the dramatic choruses lacked solidity and definition, not because of lack of choral expertise,
but the need for larger forces, given the surroundings.
The festival continues until Sunday with a diverse program that is sure to please connoisseur and ordinary
listener alike.

Friday 18 September, The Australian [Sydney], page 17. (extract)
Unlikely duo lifts the class
Jeremy Vincent

This year’s Melbourne Early Music Festival kicked off with a carefully delivered performance of Bach’s St John Passion in St Patrick’s Cathedral. O’Donnell’s diligent approach to his art mustered a decidedly sedate and proper reading, featuring Concentus Australis, the Ensemble Gombert choir and a group of fine soloists.
The venue was rather too large for an ideal balance. All credit, then, to the conductor for taming the
musicians enough to allow the choir plenty of show. The soloists were generally in good form, although a couple struggled to communicate their lower notes, especially as the acoustic tended to turn the continuo into almost a growling accompaniment.