The A-La-Mi-Re Manuscripts - Flemish Polyphonic Treasures

The A-La-Mi-Re Manuscripts - Flemish Polyphonic Treasures

What were these oddly named manuscripts? Hand-copied collections of music so beautifully calligraphed and illustrated that they were collected as art treasures by wealthy nobility and bankers, exchanged as gifts between heads of state, and even used as diplomatic bribes of a sort. (Charles V gave several of them to key personages to secure his election as Holy Roman Emperor.) They were produced by the workshop of Petrus Alamire (<I>né</I> Imhoff), who took his nom de plume from solfège syllables (e.g., do re mi), and they're among the most important sources we have today for music from the period around 1500. Naxos has put together a fascinating sampler of music from some of Alamire's manuscripts: sacred music and elegant secular art songs by composers both known (Josquin, de la Rue) and almost forgotten (Marbianus de Orto), as well as a few pieces played on wonderfully raucous shawms and trombones--all performed by the exemplary Belgian ensemble Capilla Flamenca. This disc should be a treat for Renaissance collectors (even those who don't usually care for anthologies); at the super-budget price, it's a good introduction to Renaissance polyphony as well. <I>--Matthew Westphal</I>