Program: #09-16 Air Date: Apr 13, 2009
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The Dutch ensemble Egidius Kwartet looks at the lasting influence of Ronsard's verse on the Franco-Flemish school, including Lassus, Regnart, and Arcadelt.
We begin a six-part series in collaboration with the Belgian Tourist Office and the Embassy of Belgium in Washington, D.C., including Belgian performers and composers. For information, you may go to:
From the Guardian:
"The Egidius Quartet, four male voices dedicated to the performance of renaissance and contemporary music from the Low Countries, is a splinter group from Ton Koopman's Amsterdam Baroque Choir. They sound accomplished and imaginative interpreters of this collection of settings of the poems of Pierre Ronsard (1524-1585), who remained popular in the Netherlands in the second half of the 16th century after fashion had passed him by in his native France.
"The composers represented include Lassus, Sweelinck and Arcadelt, and the Egidius give each song a sharply characterised performance, sometimes creating an almost operatic vividness." -- Andrew Clements
All of the music is performed by the Egidius Kwartet and is on the ET'CETERA label, CD KTC 1254.
1. MARC-ANTOINE MURET (1526-1585): Ma petite colombelle ("My little turtledove")
2. ROLAND de LASSUS (1532-1594): Orsus, filles, que l'on me donne ("Come on, girls, now let me sup")
3. JACOB ARCADELT: (1505-1567): Robin par bois et compagnes ("Robin as he goes through the woods and the fields")
4. LASSUS: La nuict froide & sombre ("The cold and somber night as sweet as honey")
5. JEAN de CASTRO (c.1540-c.1600): La nuict m'est courte, et le jour trop me dure ("I find the night too short and the day too long")
6. FRANCOIS REGNART (c.1545-1599): Si je trépasse entre les bras, Madame ("If I die in your arms, my lady")
7. REGNART: Petite Nymphe folâtre ("Little wanton nymph")
8. REGNART: Amour me tue et si je ne veux dire ("Love kills me, yet I do not wish to tell what delightful pain it is for me to die")
9. REGNART: Je suis plus aise que les Dieux ("I am better off than the gods above")
10. CASTRO: Je te hay bien (croy moy) maistresse ("I truly hate you (believe me) mistress")
11. LASSUS: Bon jour mon coeur ("Hail, my heart, hail my sweet life")
12. CASTRO: O ma belle maistresse à tout le moins prenez ("O sweet mistress, accept at least from me, your servant")
13. CASTRO: Las! je n'eusse jamais pensé ("Alas! I never really would have thought")
14. CASTRO: Mignonne, allons voir si la rose ("Sweetheart, let us go and see if the rose")
15. REGNART: Las ! Je me plains de mille et mille Soupirs ("Alas, alas, do I bemoan my lot with a thousand, thousand sighs")
16. ARCADELT: Mais de quoy sert le désirer ("What purpose is there in desiring if not for it to torture Man?")
17. JAN PIETERSZOON SWEELINCK (1562-1621): Pourqouy tournez vous vos yeux gratieus ("Why do you turn your gracious eyes away from me?")
18. LASSUS: Que dis-tu, que fais tu pensive Tourterelle ("What are you saying, what are you doing, pensive turtle-dove?")
19. LASSUS: Bon jour mon coeur ("Hail, my heart, hail my sweet life")
20. ANDREAS PEVERNAGE (1543-1591): Je suis tellement amoureux ("So much in love I am")
Composer Info
Pierre Ronsard (1524-1585), MARC-ANTOINE MURET (1526-1585), ROLAND de LASSUS (1532-1594), JACOB ARCADELT: (1505-1567), JEAN de CASTRO (c.1540-c.1600), FRANCOIS REGNART (c.1545-1599), JAN PIETERSZOON SWEELINCK (1562-1621), ANDREAS PEVERNAGE (1543-1591)
CD Info
ET'CETERA label, CD KTC 1254
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