Firminus Caron (ca. 1440 – ca. 1475) - Masses & Chansons - The Sound and The Fury (2013) {3CD fra bernardo Digital Download}

From the list of his surviving compositions and the number of their sources, Firmin Caron was clearly highly esteemed in the second half of the fifteenth century, particularly as a composer of French chansons. Most sources of his works are of Italian provenance; nonetheless the oldest French sources, from around 1470, leave little doubt that the composer himself was a Frenchman.

Born around 1440 in Amiens and probably trained at the choir school, he developed his original musical language there under the stylistic influence of Guillaume Dufay.

Continuing their forays through the less well-known parts of the Renaissance repertory, The Sound and the Fury now give us almost the entire known works of Firminus Caron (active in the 1460s and ’70s) – lacking only a dozen or so secular pieces. The top line is taken throughout by the peerless David Erler, a man who seems unable to produce an inelegant line or a less than lovely sound. And the other four singers are among the most experienced anywhere in the world for 15th-century music. With musicians like these, it is almost enough to put them in a studio and start recording.
But you also need intelligent editions, and here the inexhaustible Jaap van Benthem has come to the rescue by reconsidering every detail of the music and effectively replacing the 40-year-old standard edition of Caron. This is in itself a major achievement and contributes enormously to the overall quality of the performances.
And a particular welcome to the secular songs, with complete texts and complete forms. Because the songs would seem to be his most successful works. In particular, ‘Hélas m’amour’ (better known as ‘Hélas que pourra devenir’) survives in over 20 sources, more than almost any other song of its decade, and this performance makes it perfectly clear why: it is a marvellous and bewitching piece, crammed with fascinating incident.
The only trouble that can arise is if the voices you have at your disposal do not match those expected by Caron. Whereas three of his Masses are scored for a high voice, two tenors and a bass, so they flow effortlessly, the other two have the three lower voices more or less in the same range (they may be earlier): with the Mass Jesus autem the bass singer is so overbalanced as a result that the total sound is really rather unpleasant; the balance is much better in the Mass L’homme armé but here the singers all sound seriously overtired, with rough intonation, approximate rhythms, poorly synchronised entries, tight sound and snatched breaths. It would obviously have been better to give them a rest and try another day but the realities of life can make that impossible. And at least we have all this music now in serious recordings.

Poor Firminus Caron! Sandwiched between Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474) and Johannes Ockeghem (1425-1497), the two greatest composers of the 15th Century! Sounding at times a lot like the former, at times even more like the latter! Seldom performed or recorded in comparison to either. One wonders if Caron occasionally felt like sliced turkey breast!

Well now, the turkey wasn't known in Europe in Caron's era. And the neglect of Caron's music is an artifact of the 20th Century. The outstanding music theorist of the 15th C, Johannes Tinctoris, ranked Caron among the finest , as did another proto-musicologist a century later, Hermann Finck. Caron was particularly esteemed in Italy, where most of his compositions have survived, although it isn't known whether he spent time there. Caron's "Helas que pourra devenir" is the second-most commonly included chanson in the various manuscripts of the period. In other words, Caron had credentials and credibility.

Almost nothing is known about his life, however, not even the dates of his birth and death. He probably met Dufay in Cambrai in the 1460s or 1470s. He may well have been roughly the same age as Ockeghem; one can only guess. His music was plainly influenced by Dufay – everybody's was – but it sounds, especially the five surviving masses, much more like Ockeghem's. That doesn't mean Caron was under the influence of Ockeghem. One could argue the opposite, since Caron's music chiefly dates from the 1460s, and it's widely supposed that Ockeghem composed most of his works rather late in his long life. One thing the two have in common: a predilection for richly ornamented and expansive bass parts, liberating the bass from merely singing a "countertenor bassus" expanding the harmonies of the tenor part. Ockeghem was reputed to be an excellent bass singer, so perhaps Caron was another.

Modern musicologists have tended to regard Caron's masses as a blend of the thrilling sonority of Dufay's and the profundity of Ockeghem's – the melodic genius of the former with the rhythmic complexity of the latter. And that's exactly so, but is it a flaw or a virtue? The "historical" approach to musicology, to my mind, overvalues originality and distinctiveness, and thus underesteems Caron. Listen to this CD, especially the two masses on disk 2, and form your own opinion. "Jesus autem" has the fervor and unity that Ockeghem's mathematical genius seldom achieved. "L'Homme Arme" is subtler in its use of the cantus firmus, and more cohesive, than any other mass using the famous themesong of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Each of Caron's masses has a dramatic high point, a spiritual climax reminiscent of Dufay's ability to rouse the monks from their choir stalls.

The all-male voices of "The Sound and the Fury" are as rousing as those of any singers in the musical marketplace. They are not afraid of sounding bold and theatrical, and the resonant ambiance of their recordings magnifies their boldness. Their blend is superb, with the basses most expressive, as should be the case for this music. Their tempi thrust the polyphony forward. Their rhythmic interpretations are the perfect combination of assurance and independence, always together, always free. This is the sort of performance, once heard by enough people, to elevate Caron from the crevice of obscurity where he had fallen into the proper statuary niche where he belongs, alongside Ockeghem, Josquin, and later masters.

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Musicians
Firminus Caron (ca. 1440 – ca. 1475)

the sound and the fury
David Erler countertenor
John Potter tenor
Christian Wegmann tenor
Colin Mason bass
Michael Mantaj bass

Guest: Sven Schwannberger lute

Works on This Recording

Missa « Accueilly m’a la belle »
Missa « Sanguis sanctorum »
Missa « Jesus autem »
Missa « L’homme armé »
Missa « Clemens et benigna »

Chansons
« Cuidez vous »
« Du tout ainsi »
« Accueilly m’a la belle »
« Mort ou mercy »
« S’il est ainsy »
« Hélas m’amour »
« Le despourveu »