Pour Un Plaisir: Songs And Tientos By Cabezon And His Contemporaries (2012)

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Pour Un Plaisir: Songs And Tientos By Cabezon And His Contemporaries (2012)

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During the mid-16th century in Spain, it became increasingly common for collections of music to include tablature that would enable performers of other polyphonic instruments to perform the repertoire. With the recent addition of chromatic strings, the harp was one such mechanism to benefit from this, and its presentation in this beautifully performed compilation of works offers a fascinating glimpse into the rich world of Iberian Renaissance music making.

The compositions detailed in this recording are taken from three separate sources of the period: books by Mudarra, Venegas de Henestrosa and Antonio de Cabezón. While Mudarra’s work ‘for harp or organ’ is unique in that it’s the closest thing we have to genuine 16th-century harp music, the compilation focuses primarily on the keyboard works of Antonio de Cabezón and includes in tabulations (arrangements of chansons and madrigals originally written by some of the most renowned mid-century composers), dances, variations and tientos – freely composed polyphonic fantasias. Not only does the recording introduce us to the different genres of the period, revealing an instrument that had grown ‘as perfect as the clavichord’, it honours the work of a man who was in fact one of the foremost keyboard performers and composers of his time. Surveying a lesser known facet of one of the most famous periods in music history, this collection is a must-buy for the Renaissance connoisseur.

Composer: Jacobus Clemens non Papa, Antonio De Cabezón, Alonso de Mudarra, Cypriano de Rore, …
Performer: Véronique Musson-Gonneaud

Reviews: The harp has been one of the most distinguished instruments in Western history from early times until the late 17th century. Part of its high stature derived from its connection with the biblical King David. In the Middle Ages the harp was a rather simple instrument which was only able to play diatonic scales. In the 16th century it was considered not suitable to play the more complicated pieces which were written at that time. In 1555 the Spanish theorist Juan Bermudo described various ways in which the harp could be adapted to modern requirements. Over the ensuing decades a second rank of strings was added, comparable to the black keys of the keyboard. The chromatic notes were played by poking a finger between the two strings in the main row to reach a chromatic string beyond.

There is relatively little repertoire from the 16th and early 17th centuries which was specifically intended for the harp. The main reason was that there were few amateurs who played it. There was therefore no market for collections of harp music. That said, both in Spain and in Italy there were some highly-skilled professional harpists. The Spanish played solo music, mostly improvised, and accompanied singers in secular songs ( todos humanos). Their Italian colleagues also participated in performances of oratorios and operas in the basso continuo section. Broadly speaking the music the harpists played was also suitable to be performed at the keyboard or on plucked instruments, like the vihuela in Spain and the chitarrone in Italy. In the liner-notes for his recording "Harp Music of the Italian Renaissance" (Hyperion) Andrew Lawrence-King refers to a "hidden repertoire" of pieces which were published as keyboard music but were in fact not that well suited for it. Such pieces included, for instance, intervals which were too wide for the harpsichord or elements which explored specific features of the harp.

The present disc brings us music from the Spanish renaissance. In large part it was written either for the vihuela or the keyboard; not specifically for the harp. There were few harp players in Spain: the most famous was Ludovico (or Luduvico), from the early 16th-century. None of his compositions is known, but the vihuelist Alonso Mudarra portrayed his playing in the Fantasía que contrahaze la harpa en la manera de Ludovico (included in Lawrence-King's disc devoted to his art: "The Harp of Luduvico", Hyperion). Mudarra also composed the only piece on this disc which mentions the harp as one of the instruments for which it is intended: the Tiento para harpa ó organo.

Most of the pieces were written by Antonio de Cabezón, the leading composer of keyboard music in Spain in the 16th century. He was blind from his birth and became the favourite of King Philip II. Although the large collection of his music which was printed in 1578 comprised music "for keyboard, harp and vihuela", it was primarily intended for the keyboard. This in turn means that the harp’s peculiar characteristics are not exploited. This disc shows, though, that these pieces do very well on the harp. A prerequisite is the exploration of those dynamic possibilities which the harpsichord or the organ lack. That is exactly how Véronique Musson-Gonneaud plays them. That way these performances are true alternatives to interpretations on keyboard instruments. This is especially important as these pieces belong amongst Cabezón's most frequently played. We hear the Diferencias sobre el canto llano del Caballero and the Diferencias sobre la gallarda milanesa. These represent two of the main then contemporary forms of music for solo instrument.

This kind of music had its origin in improvisation. It could take the form of free invention (in Spain known as tiento), variations over a ground bass ( canto llano) and divisions over vocal music ( diferencias). All three genres are represented here. The various titles refer to the kind of music which was popular at the time, which was largely from the pen of representatives of the Franco-Flemish school: Crecquillon, Pour un plaisir or De Rore, Anchor che col partire. As far as the less well-known composers are concerned: Francisco Fernández Palero served for forty years as the organist of the royal chapel at Granada. He was a famous organ expert. Hernando de Cabezón was Antonio's son who also was responsible for the publication of a large part of his father's oeuvre in 1578. In the track-list Quien llamo al partir partir is attributed to Juan de Cabezón, Antonio’s brother. I haven't been able to find any confirmation of this andsuspect it may be an error.

At the end of the 16th century there were two kind of chromatic harp. In Spain an instrument, known as arpa de dos órdenes, had crossed strings, whereas the Italian arpa doppia had parallel rows. In her notes in the booklet Véronique Musson-Gonneaud writes that "it is impossible to say whether or not the harp played here (based on the double harp conserved in Bologna) would have been used in Spain at the time. But the aim is also to build a repertoire for this relatively unknown instrument, and this cannot be achieved without experimentation". It seems a little exaggerated to describe the arpa doppia as a "relatively unknown instrument". It is used pretty frequently these days as a basso continuo instrument in 17th century music. There are various recordings on the market with solo music for the harp. Moreover I would like to point out that Andrew Lawrence-King, on his disc "The Harp of Luduvico", played the Spanish items on a Spanish arpa doblada. That would have been the most appropriate instrument for the repertoire on this disc. Ms Musson-Gonneaud has selected those pieces which she considered to be suitable for the harp she chose to play.

These considerations apart I have nothing but praise for the performances. Ms Musson-Gonneaud's playing is differentiated and tasteful. She uses the dynamic possibilities of her instrument well. This way, even works which are quite familiar sound different from the way I have heard them before. Moreover, this disc includes plenty of pieces which are not well-known. The playing time is very short, but as Brilliant Classics discs are very cheap, we have no right to complain.