Episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 01 | Josquin, Who He? | 20180716 | In the company of choral director Jeremy Summerly, Donald Macleod goes in search of that elusive Renaissance master, Josquin des Prez. Today, the scant facts of the composer's life. Among the few things definitively known about Josquin are the date and place of his death - the 27th of August, 1521, in the northern French town of Cond退-sur-l'Escaut. The beginning of his life, as with much of what happened during its course, is shrouded in mystery. The occasional glimpses we get of Josquin through court records and the like paint a picture of a supremely talented, highly respected, well travelled and quite possibly rather difficult man whose dedication to his art went hand in hand with a canny appreciation of his own worth. El grillo The Hilliard Ensemble Paul Hillier, director Illibata Dei Virgo nutrix The Clerks' Group Edward Wickham, director Ora pro nobis (Vultum tuum deprecabuntur) Orlando Consort Domine, non secundum The Clerk's Group Miserere mei, Deus De Labyrintho Walter Testolin, director Pater Noster - Ave Maria The King's Singers Produced by Chris Barstow. Donald Macleod goes in search of an elusive master of the Renaissance. |
| 2018 | 02 | Josquin In Print | 20180717 | In the company of choral director Jeremy Summerly, Donald Macleod goes in search of that elusive Renaissance master, Josquin des Prez. Today, Petrucci's press boosts Josquin's fame. Ottaviano Petrucci holds a special place in music history as the first printer to issue volumes of polyphonic music produced using movable type - making him a sort of musical Gutenberg. His opening salvo, in 1501, was the catchily titled Harmonice Musices Odhecaton - one hundred songs of harmonic music, an anthology of chansons by some of the leading composers of the day. Petrucci went on to publish several collections of Josquin's masses, whose dissemination throughout Europe spread the composer's reputation far and wide. The growth of music printing arguably also had a negative aspect, as it encouraged less scrupulous printers to market the work of lesser-known composers under the names of their more illustrious contemporaries - Josquin included. This practice has led in recent years to a radical shrinkage of Josquin's oeuvre, as more and more works once attributed to him are now considered to be by others. La Bernardina Fretwork Missa Hercules dux ferrarie (Credo) The Hilliard Ensemble Paul Hillier, director O Domine, Jesu Christe A Sei Voci Bernard Fabre-Garrus, director Attrib Josquin: Absalon, fili mi Oxford Camerata Jeremy Summerly, director Missa faisant regretz The Medieval Ensemble Of London Timothy Davies and Peter Davies, direction Produced by Chris Barstow. Donald Macleod goes in search of an elusive master of the Renaissance, Josquin des Prez. |
| 2018 | 03 | Beyond The Church | 20180718 | In the company of choral director Jeremy Summerly, Donald Macleod goes in search of that elusive Renaissance master, Josquin des Prez. Today they explore the composer's secular music, as well as church music with secular associations - from a fanfare that may have been written for the coronation of Louis XII to a psalm-setting that doubled as a 'musical invoice', via Josquin's moving musical memorial to his teacher, Johannes Ockeghem. Vive le Roy Hesp耀rion XXI Jordi Savall, director Scaramella fa la guerra; De tous biens plaine; Adieu mes amours Early Music Consort of London David Munrow, director Que vous ma dame; Regretz sans fin Taverner Consort Nymphes des bois Cambridge Taverner Choir Owen Rees, director Memor esto verbi tui Oxford Camerata Jeremy Summerly, director De profundis Amarcord Produced by Chris Barstow. Donald Macleod goes in search of an elusive master of the Renaissance. |
| 2018 | 04 | Master Of The Notes | 20180719 | In the company of choral director Jeremy Summerly, Donald Macleod goes in search of that elusive Renaissance master, Josquin des Prez. Today, Josquin as craftsman and innovator. It was no less than Martin Luther, architect of the Protestant Reformation, who dubbed his older contemporary Josquin Desprez 'master of the notes, which must do as he wishes, while other composers must follow what the notes dictate'. Nowhere is this mastery more apparent than in Josquin's Missa L'homme arm退 sexti toni, whose calm surface belies the fearsome complexity of its inner contrapuntal workings. Ave Maria ... virgo serena The Tallis Scholars Peter Phillips, director Virgo prudentissima; Virgo salutiferi The Choir of New College, Oxford Edward Higginbottom, director Ave nobilissima creatura La Chapelle Royale Philippe Herreweghe, conductor Salve regina (a5) Chanticleer L'homme arm退; Missa L'homme arm退 sexti toni (Agnus Dei) Oxford Camerata Jeremy Summerly, director Produced by Chris Barstow. Donald Macleod goes in search of an elusive master of the Renaissance. |
| 2018 | 05 LAST | Legacy | 20180720 | In the company of choral director Jeremy Summerly, Donald Macleod goes in search of that elusive Renaissance master, Josquin des Prez. Today, Josquin and posterity. Once they're dead, many composers pass directly into obscurity and are forgotten. Not so Josquin. After his death in 1521, there were fulsome musical tributes; later generations 'parodied' his works; and we know that Josquin's own music stayed continuously in the repertoire well into the 17th century. Today's programme includes a pair of memorial tributes, by the decidedly obscure Jaquet of Mantua and Hieronymus Vinders; a parody Magnificat by Lassus; and a trio of masterpieces by Josquin himself. Jaquet of Mantua: Dum vastos Adriae fluctus The King's Singers Josquin des Prez: Praeter rerum seriem The Tallis Scholars Peter Phillips, director Orlande de Lassus: Magnificat secondi toni super Praeter rerum seriem The Sixteen Harry Christophers, director Josquin des Prez: Benedicta es, coelorum regina Weser-Renaissance Bremen Manfred Cordes, director Josquin des Prez: Stabat mater Alamire David Skinner, director Hieronymus Vinders: O mors inevitabilis Oxford Camerata Jeremy Summerly, director Produced by Chris Barstow. Donald Macleod goes in search of an elusive master of the Renaissance. |