I've only just caught up with last week's EMS, re-broadcast in the wee small hours today. As usual, the programme was well-presented and the examples played gave us a nice overview of this archetypal mid-16th century Flemish composer. I was a bit puzzled by Lucy's reference (made more than once) to Clemens' being a consevative and sticking to what she referred to the 'old style' ( meaning presumably imitative polyphony) and eschewing Italian developments of the nascent Baroque. Hang on a minute! Palestrina was younger than Clemens, and do we say that about him? Monteverdi was at least a whole generation younger, and therefore I cannot think where this idea of 'backwardness' has come from. Clemens for me represents the ultimate perfection of Renaissance polyphony...an assured master.
One more gripe. The extracts played were from the usual pack (Tallis Scholars, Brabant Ensemble, Oxford Camerata) and whilst they were superb in blend and tuning, I must say I found them all a bit samey. As with Tallis, one needs to work extra hard at some intelligent phrasing and (however unpopular) dynamics to avoid tedium. As an aside, there is a strange resonance with Tallis. There are some quite surprising false relations of the Tallis type in Clemens' oeuvre.
Strangely, standing out from all these specialist Renaissance groups, JEG's Monteverdi Choir gave by far the most expressive performance of the programme...O Maria Vernans Rosa.
Despite my comments earlier, I can recommend the Brabant Ensemble's CD of Clemens, and not only because I have a family member singing on it! There is not musch dedicated disc space given to Clemens out there.
One more gripe. The extracts played were from the usual pack (Tallis Scholars, Brabant Ensemble, Oxford Camerata) and whilst they were superb in blend and tuning, I must say I found them all a bit samey. As with Tallis, one needs to work extra hard at some intelligent phrasing and (however unpopular) dynamics to avoid tedium. As an aside, there is a strange resonance with Tallis. There are some quite surprising false relations of the Tallis type in Clemens' oeuvre.
Strangely, standing out from all these specialist Renaissance groups, JEG's Monteverdi Choir gave by far the most expressive performance of the programme...O Maria Vernans Rosa.
Despite my comments earlier, I can recommend the Brabant Ensemble's CD of Clemens, and not only because I have a family member singing on it! There is not musch dedicated disc space given to Clemens out there.
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