Ensemble: Clemencic Consort
Album: John Dunstable, Cathedral Sounds - Sacred music of the late English Gothic
Video: A selection of images of English Cathedrals
•
John Dunstable, “an astrologian, a mathematician, a musician and what not“, was born around 1390 in England and died on 24th December 1453 in London. “On the eve of Christ’s birth this star rose up into Heaven“. This is about all that is know of Dunstable, one of the very great, one of the most important western composers. The religious polyphony if the late Gothic period must number among the most significant demostrations of the human mind. Its resounding “cathedrals“ of sound bear very comparison with architectural achievements, with the Egiptyan pyramids and the Greek temples. Maybe this will again generally acknowledged some day. It is the music of the stars proportionated by cosmic laws. Many musicians and musicologists of that era were also mathematicians and astronomers just as Dunstable. Without Dunstable, and the contemporary English school of “contenange angloise“ wich he wholly embodies, one cannot imagine the later existence of so-called Dutch of Franco-Flemish polyphony, the basis of our classical polyphony. The significance of this English musical style was recognised on the continent as early as the 1440’s. Its most important characteristics are full, harmonic richness of sound and cantabile melody. These are phenomena which point to a new era, away from the more horizontal lines of the Middle Ages. Vertical sound blocks were considered the necessary product of polyphonic strands rather than autonomous sound phenomena in their own right. The English style, as also found in selected folk-music traditions, seems to have traditionally diverged somewhat. Dunstable’s extraordinary skill was so convincing that the continental polyphonist merged the peculiarities of the “contenance angloise“ with their own style. The music strives towards panconsonant polyphony, dissonance (other than simple melodic ornament) is generally introduced with care. [...]
René Clemencic.
Here is an excerpt from the libretto of this wonderful work by Clemencic dedicated to Dunstable. Regarding the video, I have selected some images of beautiful cathedrals in Great Britain.
Have a good listening!
Mirko Virginio Volpe
Musica Medievale
•
1 Kyrie
2 Gloria
3 Salve Regina
4 Sub Tuam Protectionem I
5 Ave Regina Celorum
6 Sanctus
7 Sub Tuam Protectionem II
8 Magnificat
9 Beata Dei Genitrix
10 Et Propter Hoc
11 Regina Celi Letare
•
Buy:
🌻 The monetization of this channel is disabled to offer the highest possible listening quality. Please support the channel with a free donation:
•
#earlymusic #musicamedievale #johndunstable #medievalmusic #england #medieval #reneclemencic #clemencicconsort