Leonin, Perotin: Sacred Music from Notre-Dame Cathedral
List Price:
Our Price: $5.63
You Save: $3.32 (37%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Composer: PerotinComposer: Notre Dame School Anonymous
Composer: Leonin
Composer: Gregorian Chant
Composer: 11th century French Polyphony Anonymous
Performer: Tonus Peregrinus
Performer: Rebecca Hickey
Performer: Joanna Forbes
Performer: Richard Eteson
Performer: Alexander Hickey
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-07-19
Music Label: Naxos
Soundtracks:
- Beata Viscera
- Viderunt Omnes
- Viderunt Omnes
- (Plainchant) ... Fines Terre Salutare Dei ...
- (2-Part Organum) ... Notum Fecit ...
- ... Dominus ...
- ... Salutare Suum Ante Conspectum ...
- (Plainchant) ... Justitiam Suam
- (2-Part Organum) ...Viderunt Omnes ...
- (Plainchant) ... Fines Terre Salutare Dei ...
- (2-Part Organum) ... Notum Fecit ...
- ... Dominus ...
- (Plainchant) ... Justitiam Suam
- (2-Part Organum) ...Viderunt Omnes ...
- (Plainchant) ... Fines Terre Salutare Dei ...
- (2-Part Clausula): ... Dominus ...
- (2-Part Clausula): ... Dominus ...
- (2-Part Clausula): ... Dominus ...
- (2-Part Clausula): ... Dominus ...
- (2-Part Clausula): ... Dominus ...
- (2-Part Clausula): ... Dominus ...
- (2-Part Motet): Factum Est Salutare/
- (4-Part Organum): Viderunt Omnes ...
- (Plainchant) ... Fines Terre Salutare Dei ...
- (4-Part Organum): Notum Fecit ...
- ... Dominus ...
- .... Salutare Suum Ante Conspectum ...
- (Plainchant) ... Justitiam Suam
- (Plainchant): Viderunt Omnes ...
- (Organum After 9th-Century Scolica Enchiriadis)...
- (4-Part Organum): Sederunt Principes
- (4-Part Conductus): Vetus Abit Littera
Music reviews of Leonin, Perotin: Sacred Music from Notre-Dame Cathedral
Music Review: A Resounding Success
Rating: 5 Stars
If one read the album notes but failed to read the fine print on the rear of the jacket, one would likely assume that this recording was made in Notre Dame Cathedral, which it was not. It was recorded at Chancelade Abbey, Dordogne, France. (http://chapaq.free.fr/Congregations/Chancelade.htm)
The notes mention the fact that both Leonin and Perotin worked at Notre Dame and were both responsible for the Organum. Organum is Polyphony used in liturgical music from the late 9th century to c. 1250.
I bring this up because few people, even musicologists, understand the vital roles that acoustics and harmonics(overtones)played in the composition of sacred music until about the Seventeenth Century.
The musicologist, Thurston Dart, summarizes the influence that reverberation has on composers:
"But even a superficial study shows that early composers were very aware of the effect on their music of the surroundings in which it was to be performed, and that they deliberately shaped their music accordingly. Musical acoustics can be roughly divided into resonant, room and outdoor. Plainsong is resonant music; so is the harmonic style of Leonin and Perotin .. Perotin's music, in fact, is perfectly adapted to the acoustics of the highly resonant cathedral (Notre Dame Paris) for which it was written...."
(Thurston Dart, musicologist, "The interpretation of Music",Hutchinson, London pp56-57 (1954).
I think, like most 'moderns', Mr. Dart has got it backwards -- these composers were mostly aware of the effect of the surroundings upon their music. Composers like Leonin and Perotin and others, notably Allegri (composer of the famous "Miserere"), were more interested on the effect that the music, augmented by the acoustics, had on the congregation, in terms of literally uplifting their spirits and assisting them in participating directly in what was called the "Communion of Saints".
E. Power Biggs said: "An organist will take al the reverberation time he is given, and then ask for a bit more.... Many of Bach's organ works are designed .... to explore reverberation. Consider the pause that follows the ornamented proclamation that opens the famous Toccata in D minor. Obviously this is for the enjoyment of the notes as they remain suspended in the air". Church music sounds wrong when performed in a small non-reverberant space with a lot of acoustic absorbent such as curtains and carpets."
(http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/acoustics_world/concert_hall_acoustics/acoustics_music.html)
E. Power Biggs and the pundits at Salford University, assume that Bach and his predecessors valued acoustics and resonance primarily from the standpoint of aesthetics. In other words, they chose reverberant halls because their music sounded better when performed in them. I believe that they too are missing the point. Acoustic Archeologists, like John Reid and Paul Devereux are beginning to discover that ancient holy places, such as Stonehenge and also the Gothic Cathedrals, like Notre Dame de Paris, were actually tuned to resonate certain specific pitches or sound frequencies. They are or contain what are called "resonant chambers".
A resonant chamber essentially reflects and amplifies or "empowers" certain specific frequencies, particularly when they are sung by a chorus (or congregation) of "pure voices" in unison. These frequencies and the harmonies reproduced by the reverberations elicited certain specific emotional responses, such as awe and reverence, from the assembly. I'm sure that Leonin and Perotin were well aware of the marvelous acoustics of Notre Dame and structured their music to take full advantage of it.
After the invention of the printing press, increasingly more emphasis was placed on the written and spoken word. Music was no longer spontaneously created or improvised and less and more reverberant acoustics only served to muddle the words of the preacher or celebrant.
I'm guessing that the reason why the producer, Jeremy Summerly, chose not to record this music in its original home is because it now uses a P.A. or electronic audio system, which is more appropriate for the modern mostly-spoken Mass. Masses are undoubtedly still sung there but the voices are likely amplified and filtered by electronics. The addition of modern furnishings can also affect the acoustics.
Speaking of electronics -- it is now possible to accurately reproduce the acoustics of a particular space, like Notre Dame Cathedral, electronically. The acoustics of Notre Dame have already been captured and digitally reproduced, I believe, by the Japanese Yamaha Company. Unfortunately, I did not have that particular software program ("algorhythm") but, using other software, I was able to create my own semi-cavernous cathedral space.
What an awesome experience!
Even without the virtual cathedral enhancement, the sound is marvelous and the performance is excellent.
One more technical consideration -- this recording was recorded and edited at 24-bit resolution. Unlike recordings made at a lower bit-rate, the sound, particularly in the higher registers, is smooth and clean. I wish that Jeremy Summerly would record Allegri's "Miserere" in a space that is acoustically similar to the Sistine Chapel, using the same technology. I haven't heard a recording of this work where the vital higher harmonics are not badly distorted.
Tim O'Hanlon
More Leonin, Perotin: Sacred Music from Notre-Dame Cathedral free music reviews:
1
1
Description of Leonin, Perotin: Sacred Music from Notre-Dame Cathedral
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.Classical CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Classical CDs
Winterscapesby London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops:
The Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebeeby Dini Petty
Children's Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.38
Price in other shops:
Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs CdrRelease date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $24.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
![Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] Image](/images/Jose-Carreras-Jubileum-Concert-VHS-1584481471-X.jpg){kind=small}
Jose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops:
![Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] Image](/images/Tchaikovsky-The-Nutcracker-Nureyev-Park-Royal-Ballet-VHS-156127092X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.91
Price in other shops:
![Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] Image](/images/Lonely-Town-Lonley-Street-Sergeant-Early-Dream-VHS-1561270857-X.jpg){kind=small}
Rambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Winter Music: Composing the Northby John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $25.63
Price in other shops:
![Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Puccini-La-Fanciulla-del-West-Santi-Domingo-Neblett-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720382-X.jpg){kind=small}
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops:
![Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Verdi-Falstaff-Giulini-Bruson-Ricciarelli-Nucci-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720358-X.jpg){kind=small}
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Byrd: Mass for Four Voices; Mass for Five Voices; Infelix egoRelease date: 1994-02-15; Music CD
Best price: $5.79
Price in other shops:
Abbaye de Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation, The Benedictine Nuns - VoicesIgnatius Press; Release date: 2010-11-22; Music CD
Best price: $8.72
Price in other shops:
Machaut: Messe de Notre DameRelease date: 1993-11-16; Music CD
Best price: $12.80
Price in other shops:
Josquin: Missa L'homme armé; Ave Maria; Absalom fili miRelease date: 1998-05-26; Music CD
Best price: $5.79
Price in other shops:
Music of the Gothic EraMUNROW,DAVID; Release date: 2002-10-08; Music CD
Best price: $10.11
Price in other shops:
Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli, Missa AeternaRelease date: 1994-02-15; Music CD
Best price: $5.53
Price in other shops:
Discover Early MusicRelease date: 2005-11-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.75
Price in other shops:
Josquin Desprez: Motets & ChansonsRelease date: 1997-01-21; Music CD
Best price: $6.19
Price in other shops:
Machaut: La Messe de Nostre Dame; Songs from Le Voir DitRelease date: 1996-12-17; Music CD
Best price: $5.69
Price in other shops:
PerotinHILLIARD ENSEMBLE; Release date: 2000-04-18; Music CD
Best price: $9.82
Price in other shops: