Josquin (and Jacquet)
VOICES & INSTRUMENTS
Tutor: Andrew Griffiths
Location: St Columba’s RC Church, Chester
Reviewer: Anna Wright
Josquin at 500: a remarkable tribute motet
A significant anniversary always provides the possibility of a theme for a workshop and the opportunity to mark 500 years since the death of Josquin on 27 August 1521 was just such an occasion. The event was aimed primarily at singers, with spaces for a few instrumentalists to support the vocal lines – we had three recorders and two (Renaissance) viols. The content was well-thought out and imaginative with five motets by Josquin and a tribute motet by Jacquet of Mantua (1484-1559) who incorporated snippets of those same Josquin motets in his work.
Four of the Josquin motets were for five voices – ‘Salve, Regina misericordie’, ‘Miserere mei deus’, ‘Stabat mater dolorosa’ and ‘Inviolata, integra et casta es maria’ – as was Jacquet’s ‘Dum vastos Adriae fluctus’, whilst the remaining Josquin motet ‘Praeter rerum seriem’ was for six, effectively SAATBB. Whilst Josquin’s texts were either biblical or liturgical, Jacquet’s was a somewhat strange mixture of myths and a few lines of religious text to accommodate the Josquin excerpts. Musically speaking the latter motet was not, in my view, as good as those by Josquin but its interest is in demonstrating the esteem in which Josquin was held and Jacquet’s ability to draw on pieces which must have been very well known to its hearers at the time.
Speaking as a soprano I think the altos probably had the toughest deal of the day. For some of the Josquin pieces they had to read and sing what was essentially a tenor line down an octave and there were a few low notes which they probably didn’t know even existed in their voices before; the tenors may have run them a close second however, with a few high lines! Hopefully, in spite of the vocal challenges, everyone enjoyed the day as much as I did.
This was my first experience of Andrew Griffiths as a workshop tutor and he was excellent. The publicity for the workshop referred to his connection with Stile Antico, the highly acclaimed and award-winning vocal ensemble, of which he is a member. The ensemble has recently released an album of Josquin motets and I thought the workshop benefitted very much from the fact that Andrew brought his intimate knowledge of this repertoire, as a performer and researcher, to the occasion. I very much appreciated his approach to the pieces, pointing out significant features such as the use of plainsong, canons, imitation points and other structural techniques and thus enabling us to begin to understand the construction of the pieces. I felt he had the right balance of providing information both in relation to the pieces specifically and more generally about Josquin and Jacquet. He structured the day very well, ensuring that there was adequate time to spend on each piece so that it felt as though we had done it justice. All of the pieces are quite substantial in length, with the three parts of ‘Miserere mei deus’ each lasting around five minutes. By working at each section of the motets we soon gained some familiarity with them and were not only secure on the notes but, thanks to Andrew’s guiding, able to deliver a meaningful run-through of each one.
I liked the fact that Andrew did a brief vocal warm up at the start of the day – several of the participants had commented that it was the first time they had sung for a very long time (since the start of Covid) so it was a welcome beginning. Not only is Andrew a singer – which he demonstrated beautifully with a solo rendition, accompanied by the two viols, of Binchois’ rondeau ‘Comme femme desconfortée’ on which the tenor line of Josquin’s ‘Stabat mater’ is based – but he is also a choral conductor and I felt that further contributed to the way he went about working on the pieces and the clarity with which he gave instructions. He was engaging throughout and it was a thoroughly enjoyable day. I hope he can be booked for another workshop before too long; judging by the reaction from participants I’m sure it would be most welcome.
Thanks to Peter Syrus who not only organised the event and liaised with Andrew but also provided the editions from which we sang and played, and to Mark Bertinat who acted as the local representative and helped with the venue.
Anna Wright
First published in November 2021 Newsletter
