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Notes 59.1 (2002) 145-149



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Briefly Noted

Rick Anderson


Words of the Angel. Trio Mediaeval. ECM 289 461 782-2, 2001.

This is the debut recording of Trio Mediaeval, an Oslo-based ensemble of women's voices whose repertoire focuses on polyphonic music of medieval England and France, Norwegian medieval ballads and songs, and modern vocal works. For this program the group selected the celebrated Messe de Tournai and interspersed its sections with nonliturgical polyphonic works taken from the Berkeley Castle Select Roll 55 and monophonic pieces from a thirteenth-century manuscript found in Cortona. At the very end of the program, just before the Ite missa est, the album's title work is inserted, a brief composition written for them by Ivan Moody; the text of Words of the Angel is taken from the Orthodox liturgy for Easter day, and the music is predictably (but no less beautifully) stark and eerily lovely. Trio Mediaeval has marvelous blend and sings in a style that is light without being airy, and the production style (which, while not exactly dry, is unusually restrained for an ECM recording) fits the rich quality of their voices nicely. There is grist for the gender- political mill in the choice of repertoire—in the fourteenth century it would have been unthinkable for women to sing these compositions in their intended setting—but, like Anonymous 4, these women wear that aspect of their project lightly.

Johann Sebastian Bach. Morimur. Hilliard Ensemble; Christoph Poppen. ECM 289 461 895-2, 2001.

The theory behind this recording is somewhat controversial, and a recording whose purpose is to illustrate a musicological theory should always be regarded with healthy suspicion. Musicologist Helga Thoene has, for some years now, been making the argument that J. S. Bach wrote into some of his instrumental works an elaborate system of coded references. Her most dramatic claim is that the Ciaccona from the Partita in D minor, BWV 1004, can be "read" as a musical epitaph for Maria Barbara Bach, who died shortly before the piece was written (Herbert Glossner, brochure notes); that argument is illustrated by the penultimate track on the disc, a simultaneous performance of that Ciaccona (played beautifully on baroque violin by Christoph Poppen) with selections from the chorale "Christ lag in Todesbanden." Thoene's argument is too complex to be treated fully here, but for the purposes of this review it is enough to say that while it is certainly interesting, it does not necessarily offer great musical insight. It is fascinating, in an abstract sort of way, to hear the harmonic connection between one of Bach's violin partitas and one of his chorales, but it is not an experience most will likely wish to repeat on aesthetic grounds. Elsewhere on the program the rest of the D-minor partita is played in its entirety, interspersed with other vocal selections. The Hilliards sing beautifully as ever, and Manfred Eicher's trademark wet, echo-laden production effectively warms the dry timbre of that group's natural sound. But ultimately, this album is more interesting as an intellectual exercise than as a musical experience. Public and academic libraries should expect demand, and academic libraries supporting a program in musicology should certainly have a copy on hand.

Johann Sebastian Bach. Partitas nos. 1 and 2. English Suites nos. 2 and 3. Anne-Marie McDermott. GMN GMNC 0112, 2001. [End Page 145]
Johann Sebastian Bach. The Six Partitas for Keyboard, BWV 825-830. Andrew Rangell. Dorian DOR-93242, 2001.

These two roughly simultaneous releases allow us to compare the approaches of two fine pianists to some of Bach's most celebrated keyboard works. McDermott's recording features two each of the keyboard partitas and English suites, while Rangell's two discs (at a single-disc list price) offer all six of the partitas. McDermott's program is the more varied in mood and tone. While Bach's partitas were by no means mere bloodless etudes, their pedagogical character is fairly obvious, whereas the English suites are denser and more expressive, and the juxtaposition of the two styles is pleasing. On the other hand...

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