Early music is something of a niche interest. But within that niche there are the popular kids – the William Byrds, the Josquins – and the obscure, dusty corners. Composers of whom we know little beyond their names. Pockets of Europe (and South America and beyond) where aficionados of European-style early music seldom tread. The Marian Consort dug into one of these sub-niches and extracted the treasures that comprise “Music from Renaissance Scotland, which the British choir brought to the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (perfect for a group called the Marian Consort) as part of Miller Theatre at Columbia University’s 2024–2025 Early Music season.
The Marian Consort in Times Square
This Times Square church is an acoustically excellent venue for a cappella choral music, especially when the ensemble is small enough that you can hear individual voices. In this case, if you were sitting close enough, you could pick out who in the eight-member choir was singing which part even when there was only one singer to a part.
Was someone missing, though? When the concert began, conductor and artistic director Rory McCleery was leading only seven singers in the “Benedicta es caelorum Regina” by Josquin des Prez (not Scottish, but we’ll get to that in a moment). The missing tenor’s voice then shot forward from the rear of the church, singing a plainchant. Gotcha! A somber Kyrie from an anonymous Missa Felix namque followed.
But why open with Josquin? The Franco-Flemish composer remains ubiquitous in early music circles more than 500 years after his death. Indeed Wikipedia suggests he was “the first Western composer to retain posthumous fame.” But though Josquin worked and traveled widely in Europe, I can’t imagine he ever made his way to Scotland.
Well, this “Benedicta” is present in one of the few Scottish Renaissance-era music manuscripts not destroyed by the Calvinists during the Reformation. (Thank goodness book-burning went out with tallow candles and no longer threatens free thought!) It’s ironic that while none of the stellar music on this concert program would exist without Christianity, another sect of the same religion sent other music from the same tradition to oblivion.
Scottish Psalms
While much of the program was complex contrapuntal music with some plainchant thrown in, two Psalm settings in English broke the pattern. One was by John Buchan, about whom little is known. The other is by David Peebles, a better-known Scottish composer (he’d be pleased to know that he merits a Wikipedia page) whose works are found in a set of manuscripts known as the Wode Partbooks. Peebles composed more than 100 Psalm settings, written with all parts moving together in harmony, making the words perfectly clear.
Though no less beautiful than the other music, these works demand less of the listener. They eased the flow of the concert in a happy way. And they made it easy to appreciate McCleery’s tasteful phrasing.
Doubtless they’re easier for the singers, too. It’s no small feat to accurately sing one part among six, seven or even eight different parts when you are the only one, or one of just two, on that part. That the music at this concert sounded so celestial was a testament to the tremendous skills of these singers and their director. I knew from recordings that the Marian Consort was among the best. But seeing a very small a cappella ensemble like this one live in concert reveals and rewards in a deeper way. And a church setting, especially an acoustically beneficial one, makes this kind of music all the more moving.
Early Music, Anonymous
One of the most purely beautiful selections was the “Gloria” from that anonymous Missa Felix namque. Various influences in the music suggest, McCleery said, that the unknown composer was indeed Scottish, and like the rest of the pieces it is found in a Caledonian manuscript. Our old friend Anonymous also gave us a Magnificat that alternates plainchant lines with multipart harmonies. It sees the soprano and later the tenor parts split into two, for a total of six, reinforcing the lofty talents of each of these singers. It also features long melismas within the harmony sections, much like one hears in plainchant (e.g. Gregorian chant).
The “Sanctus and Benedictus” from the anonymous Missa Felix namque was divine, with McCleery guiding the singers through subtle and evocative dynamic changes. Glorious counterpoint activated the “Inviolata” by another French composer, Pierre Certon. The way each of the six voices lands on the second syllable of the final verse, which beings “O benigna, O regina, O Maria” (“O beneficent, O queen, O Mary”), though a relatively simple trope, struck me as an avatar for the intricate construction that makes this music still so compelling after all these centuries.
The program concluded with a composition by Johannes Lupi with amazing eight-part counterpoint. Amid the wash of sound, it included what seemed to me a few oddball harmonies. Maybe my brain was simply overwhelmed by that point, though. A canon also by Certon served as a fitting encore, ending with an extraordinarily beautiful “Amen.”
For more on the Marian Consort visit its website. For upcoming Miller Theatre events including the Early Music series, visit the Miller Theatre website.
The post Concert Review: The Marian Consort – Music from Renaissance Scotland appeared first on Blogcritics.