Repertoire
Barcelona and Apt Masses (14th century)
Artists
Ensemble Gilles Binchois
Dominique Vellard, conductor
Program
The French Ensemble Gilles Binchois, founded in 1979 by Dominique Vellard, who still conducts it, is one of the leading groups in the field of Renaissance and medieval vocal music ranging from the Notre-Dame school to Franco-Burgundian polyphony.
DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM HERE
DOWNLOAD THE LYRICS AQUÍNext to, among others, Guillaume de Machaut’s much more famous Messe de Notre Dame, the anonymous Barcelona Mass, which is estimated to date back to the mid-14th century, is one of the earliest full Mass compositions in the European heritage. It is written for three voices and divided into the usual five parts of the Mass: Kirie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei – the last of these written for four voices. We do know, however, that these parts were neither written as, nor originally intended to constitute, a whole, and that they may well have been written by several authors. Despite this, the degree of consistency achieved by them as a whole is truly fascinating. We will listen to them together with the Apt Codex Mass, also from the 14th century.
