BREMF: Connections of Power – Cappella Pratensis, BREMF Consort of Voices

The Brighton Early Music Festival has worked its magic again. It enticed an unexpectedly large audience to enjoy some very complex and solemn 15th century church music. They had gathered well before the concert began and sat almost silently for two hours on those hard, Sunday school chairs that squeak terribly if you shift them on those antique tiles. There was almost no coughing. This was a dedicated crowd of enthusiasts, so quiet that the click of the official photographer’s shutter was intrusive.

The mix of a Belgian male-voice quintet with a high quality English choir simulated the connection of the two musical cultures that met during the celebrations of the dynastic marriage of the century, of Margaret of York to Charles the Bold of Burgundy.

The well balanced solo voices of Cappella Pratensis cut through the vast acoustic of St Bartholomew’s. Every line was distinct, every word clear – and they were singing the Latin with Burgundian pronunciation, which sounds special to Brighton ears. It required extra concentration. The BREMF Consort of Voices sang with their usual Italianate Latin vowels. This choir is very used to the booming acoustic and knows to trust their conductor, James Elias, even if they couldn’t always hear the blend for themselves because of the resonance. They sounded together and confident. This was especially important in the plainchant sections, which were much easier for the Belgian soloists. Singing from plainchant neumes rather than modern notation takes a bit of getting used to but makes for better flow and phrasing, where the patterns show up better on the single large music stand. The Ordinary of the Mass was sung to two different settings, by the Burgundian master Guillaume Dufay and by his English contemporary Walter Frye, which beautifully illustrated the contrasting national styles. This delightful concert ended with both choirs singing together, mixing their two ways of pronouncing the Latin. It made for an interesting effect.

I’m not sure what was meant by “An immersive evening…” The lights were dimmer for the second half but, except for the big music stand, it was a conventional concert. That aristocratic wedding would have included lighter entertainment, dancing and games, but not in this concert. The audience showed its appreciation of the sombre academic performance by its focussed attention and generous applause.

St Bartholomew’s Church,
18 October 2024

Rating:

Andrew Connal

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Josquin Desprez/Guillaume Dufay – Ave maris stella

John Dunstable – Gaude virgo

Plainchant – Introitus: Rorate coeli

Dufay – Missa Ecce ancilla Domini: Kyrie & Gloria

Plainchant – Alleluia: Ostende nobis Domine

Plainchant – Alleluia: In die resurrexionis meae

Walter Frye – Missa Flos regalis: Credo

Plainchant – Offertorium: Ave Maria

Plainchant – Prefatio

Dufay – Missa Ecce ancilla Domini: Sanctus

Plainchant – Pater noster

Frye – Missa Flos regalis: Agnus Dei I

Dufay – Missa Ecce ancilla Domini: Agnus Dei II

Frye – Missa Flos regalis: Agnus Dei III

Plainchant – Communio: Ecce virgo concipiet

Antoine Busnoys – Regina coeli laetare II

Johannes Ockeghem – Ave Maria

Jean Mouton – Nesciens mater