Was Josquin des Prés’
(c.1440-1521) Missa Di Dadi (The
Dice Mass) the first example of aleatoric music? Certainly several movements of
his Mass setting have the tenor parts prefaced with a pair of dice.
Peter Phillips www.thetallisscholars.co.uk/peter-phillips
discusses
the possible meanings of the dice as well as the attribution of these two
settings in his interesting booklet notes for The Tallis Scholars’ www.thetallisscholars.co.uk new
disc for Gimell www.gimell.com that couples
the Missa Di Dadi with his Missa Une Mousse De Biscaye.
The Kyrie and
opening section of the Gloria from
the Missa Di Dadi can be seen on
YouTube via the following link. https://youtu.be/41Y2mx_3sqM
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In the Kyrie of the Missa Di dadi, based
on a chanson by Robert Morton ‘N’ray je jamais mieux’, the Tallis Scholars move
from a gentle opening through richer textures as the Kyrie I develops, creating some wonderful sonorities before a Christe where female voices weave around
the male voices in some beautifully controlled singing. They find a slightly
faster tempo in the Kyrie II to move
quickly to the conclusion.
From the solo plainchant statement of the Gloria
in excelsis Deo the Tallis
Scholars weave some quite lovely textures, with individual voices adding fine
moments, through a finely shaped Domine
Deus, Rex caelestis, a subtly nuanced Domine
Fili unigenite and a gently flowing Domine
Deus, Agnus Dei with the most perfect harmonies before arriving at a
slower, more contemplative, finely woven Qui
tollis peccata mundi, miserere with varying rhythms toward the end.
They find a lovely pace in the Credo in unum Deum as
voices join to develop the most wonderful harmonies, always with richly drawn
textures, this choir negotiating Josquin’s twists and turns beautifully. There
is a wonderfully developed Crucifixus
where there are some very fine individual contributions, again finding terrific
textures and building some wonderful passages.
This fine choir brings
a lovely flow to the Sanctus providing a richness to Pleni sunt caeli and a fine strength and momentum to Hosanna I with the most wonderful
weaving voices. There is the most lovely weaving of textures from the male
voices in the Benedictus before
finding a light textured Hosanna II.
There is a melancholy, flowing Agnus Dei I where this
choir find the loveliest of harmonies, quite glorious. There is an Agnus Dei II that brings a real sound of
antiquity in the wonderful vocal sounds before we are taken into an equally
exquisite Agnus Dei III where the
choir blend the finest harmonies and textures.
The Missa Une mousse
de Biscaye, is based on a secular tune The
Lass from Biscay. There is a lovely restraint to the opening of Kyrie I before it gently expands through
a Christe that weaves around
beautifully, proving fine textures and later rising in richness before a Kyrie II that brings glowing harmonies.
This choir rises through some wonderfully woven vocal lines in
the Gloria
in excelsis Deo through a brief though beautifully blended Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere before
rising in the Qui sedes ad dexterem
Patris to flow with glorious harmonies to the final Amen.
This choir finds just the right tempo in the Credo
in unum Deum, slowly moving the music forward as it develops in
richness of textures, finding a slower breadth in the Et iterum venturus est before moving ahead through some very fine
weaving of voices.
There is a gentle
opening to the Sanctus with the choir soon moving through a constantly
shifting Pleni sunt caeli to a Hosanna I that moves quickly forward
with this choir showing tremendous flexibility and fluency in the ever changing
intervals. The Benedictus re-discovers
the gentler flowing quality before a Hosanna
II that moves more quickly with a fine blend of voices.
The choir rises in the Agnus Dei I, slowly blending some lovely textures and sonorities through a
finely shaped Agnus Dei II to a
glowing Agnus Dei III.
After 43 years Peter Phillips and the Tallis Scholars remain
at the top of their game. They bring such lovely control, pacing, harmonies and
textures. There is an especially fine recording from the chapel of Merton
College, Oxford together with excellent notes from Peter Phillips as well as full
Latin texts and English translations.
This is a very fine addition to the Tallis Scholars’ remarkable
catalogue
See also:
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