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Ens. Tetraktys - Codex Chantilly, 14th century (NMR) CD03


The Codex Chantilly, compiled around the end of the 14th century, is at once one of the most famous and least known of medieval manuscripts. Nearly every music history textbook after about 1960 features a picture of the heart-shaped manuscript of Baude Cordier's Belle, bonne, sage and mentions the feats of rhythmic complexity that many of the composers of the period -- the generation after Guillaume de Machaut -- achieved. Performances that attempt to make musical sense out of the manuscript have been quite rare, however, and this release (and a Vol. 1 companion) led by Dutch recorder player Kees Boeke, definitely fills a need. The manuscript poses problems on almost every level: the rhythmic notation is complex and often puzzling, the harmonic practice is as yet little understood, and the texts seem filled with arcane historical references. Boeke, his group Tetraktys, and top-notch singers Zsuzsi Töth and Carlos Mena (a rising countertenor) untangle a lot of the difficulties with attractive, straightforward realizations that offer a way into this fascinating repertory. 

dank aan originele poster!