Machaut: A Lover's Death in Bloomington, MN

Guillaume de Machaut
(1300-1377) is often accounted as the first great composer, and his life would make an interesting movie, but his music can be difficult to get a grip on at a distance of nearly 800 years. The long series of works devoted to
Machaut
by the all-male
Orlando Consort
(with a countertenor on top) has been of great value in elucidating his work. The key is to mix up the genres to hear the ways he played with forms. The theme here, as it is in much of
's music, is courtly love. However, the
frames the program with four motets, the most learned of
's work, with multiple texts and sophisticated rhythmic devices. In between are virelais, rondeaux, and ballades, each with its own pattern of sectional repetitions. There is even a solo virelai,
Liement me deport
; most collections avoid solo pieces, but they made up a good deal of
's output. The end result is that one feels plunged a bit into the composer's world. Some might want a more youthful sound here, but it is not clear that that would have been appropriate. As good a place as any to start with
. ~ James Manheim