For this recording, the performers aimed to represent a diversity of practices by including a cappella, mixed vocal and instrumental, and purely instrumental versions of the songs.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Binchois's coherent style, characterized by an intimate poetic register imbued with nostalgia, fluid melodic lines, and the independence of the upper voice, served as a benchmark for the Burgundian musical tradition.
Instruments
The embellished instrumental versions of some pieces on this album come from the Buxheim Organ Book, a large collection of keyboard arrangements compiled in southern Germany around 1460.
Historical Context
Despite never leaving the Burgundian Low Countries, Binchois's works were copied as far away as Italy, demonstrating the wide reach of his musical output in the 1420s and 1430s.
Composer Biography
Gilles de Binche, known as Binchois, was one of the three great musical figures of the first half of the 15th century, born around 1400 in the Mons area.
Composer Biography
Binchois was a member of the Burgundian ducal chapel and received benefices (prebends) in various towns, likely thanks to Duke Philip the Good, despite not being a university graduate or clergyman.
Compositional Technique
Binchois belonged to the first generation of composers for whom the rondeau was the predominant form of secular song, a form that would later constitute over three-quarters of the polyphonic song repertoire in the 15th century.
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