O Rosa Bella: Mass by Gilles Joye and chansons by Dunstable and Bedyngham

Featuring

Jung Min Kim
Teodora Tommasi
Claudia Caffagni
Ensemble Dionea
Ensemble Nova Alta
John Bedingham

Anonymous
Gilles Joye
Alan Hert
Johannes Ockeghem
John Dunstable

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Compositional Technique

The 'Missa super O Rosa bella' uses the secular chanson 'O Rosa bella' as a cantus firmus, meaning the melody is constantly and completely used in the Contratenor part.

Interpretation

For this recording, the performers decided to use only two ranks of male voices for the Mass, based on elements in the original manuscript suggesting at least two singers per voice.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Gilles Joye's secular chansons, especially those with lewd texts, enjoyed wide circulation and often used religious puns and Latinisms to mock ecclesiastical language.

Composer Biography

Gilles Joye, despite being ordained a priest, was given to disobedience, with the Church Chapter insisting he go on a pilgrimage to atone for his misdemeanours.

Composition History

The 'O Rosa bella' Mass by Gilles Joye may have been inspired by his relationship with a woman named Rosabella, whom he was asked to leave by the Bruges chapter.

Historical Context

The 'O Rosa bella' chanson, originally a secular love song, was adapted into a song of devotion dedicated to the Virgin Mary by changing its text to Latin.

Composer Biography

Gilles Joye, a 15th-century musician, was known for his bizarre character and financial problems, accumulating debts that forced him to sell all his possessions.