Jean Richafort wrote his Missa pro defunctis in the early 16th century, and it still cuts to the bone today. The text “C’est douleur non pareille” – it is unequalled sorrow – is the recurrent motif in this requiem. Six voices weave themselves around Gregorian melodies as music by Josquin des Prez – Richafort’s teacher and idol – trickles through the staves. Richafort recalls some of Josquin’s key works, sometimes in the form of a quotation, at other times as a melodic transformation. That was how Renaissance composers worked: they listened, built, referred back and remodelled. Familiar music gained new meaning, not for lack of creativity but as a tribute to precious traditions and the genius of their colleagues. Barbora Kabátková and the soloists at Collegium Vocale Gent intertwine Richafort’s polyphony with monophonic hymns from the Office for the Dead and close with Fortuna desperata – a madrigal that inspired both Josquin and Richafort.
Program
J. Richafort: Missa pro defunctis | J. des Prez: Nymphes, nappés | J. des Prez / A. Agricola: Fortuna desperata
Performers
Miriam Allan, soprano | Marine Fribourg, alto | Samuel Boden, tenor | Benedict Hymas, tenor | Tomas Král, baritone | Edward Grint, bass | Jimmy Holliday, bass | Barbora Kabatková, soprano & artistic leader