The Splendour of Florence with a Burgundian Resonance

Featuring

Steven Harrold
Elisabeth Paul
Andrew Lawrence-King
Julian Podger
Catherine King
Stephen Charlesworth

Gothic Voices
Anonymous (Gregorian Chant)
Guillaume Dufay
Firminus Caron
Johannes Ockeghem
Loyset Compère
Antoine Busnois
Hayne van Ghizeghem
Alexander Agricola
Johannes Tinctoris

Did you know?

1/7

Compositional Technique

The five motets on this album use mensuration, an ancient system for governing rhythmic relationships, as a main structural device.

Performer Biography

Gothic Voices, founded in 1980 by medievalist Christopher Page, is renowned for its performances of medieval music and has an award-winning discography of over twenty-five albums.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in Boxgrove Priory, Chichester, UK, between January 12-15, 2022.

Historical Context

The Italian Renaissance, particularly Florence, attracted many Franco-Flemish composers, whose music was popular among the wealthy and cultured, leading to its survival in Italian sources.

Compositional Technique

The ten chansons on this album are mainly in rondeau form, a French 'formes fixes' known for its rhyme schemes and refrains, which effectively convey themes of wooing and grieving.

Album & Artwork

The album's title, 'The Splendour of Florence with a Burgundian Resonance,' is inspired by the opening word 'Terribilis' (awesome), which drives the depiction of Florence as a splendid medieval city.

Compositional Technique

In earlier motets like Dufay's 'Nuper rosarum flores,' one or two cantus firmus tenors move slower than the upper parts, governing the harmony, while later motets by Ockeghem and Tinctoris give all voices equal thematic importance.