Du Fay 550
Switzerland / Basel
Why I’ll be there!
by DAVID FALLOWS
I well remember 1974, when we marked 500 years from the death of Guillaume Du Fay. Most of the recordings available back then were dismal; and I had a very hard time persuading anybody that he was a worthwhile composer. But in that year several people issued records of his music, not least David Munrow, whose version of the mass Se la face ay pale still stands as one of the most musically intelligent and compelling readings of any medieval music. But since then Du Fay has done well. All his music has been recorded many times (with the sad exception of the hilarious but incompletely preserved Iuvenis qui puellam). But even so, a concert devoted to his music is a rare and special event. And I suspect nobody of our now regular audience needs telling that this is one that should not be missed. With an all-star cast directed by Baptiste Romain and led by Grace Newcombe and Ivo Haun we can expect a real feast. The programme aims to cover Du Fay’s entire life, starting from his early works written in Italy and ending with the antiphon Ave regina celorum that he wished to hear on his death-bed (but sadly did not, because the singers were otherwise engaged at the time). And in the middle we hear part of the most stunning Du Fay discovery from the years since 1974, the mass for St Anthony of Padua, almost certainly written for the dedication of Donatello’s altar in the Paduan basilica of St Anthony. Given that the altar was dismantled fairly soon afterwards and nobody has been able to reconstruct it as it originally was, it is wonderful that we now have Du Fay’s mass.
Sunday, 24 November 2024
18:15 in the Barfüsserkirche
Historical Museum Basel
2nd performance:
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
20:00 in the Stadtkirche Liestal
Free entry; collection at the door
Grace Newcombe – soprano, harp
Ivo Haun de Oliveira – tenor
Cyril Escoffier – tenor
Catherine Motuz – mezzo soprano, slide trumpet
Elizabeth Rumsey – vielle, viola d’arco
Tabea Schwartz – recorder, viola d’arco
Marc Lewon – lute, gittern
Baptiste Romain – vielle, rebec, bagpipes; direction
Sunday, 24 November 2024
18:15 in the Barfüsserkirche
Historical Museum Basel
2nd performance:
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
20:00 in the Stadtkirche Liestal
Free entry; collection at the door
Grace Newcombe – soprano, harp
Ivo Haun de Oliveira – tenor
Cyril Escoffier – tenor
Catherine Motuz – mezzo soprano, slide trumpet
Elizabeth Rumsey – vielle, viola d’arco
Tabea Schwartz – recorder, viola d’arco
Marc Lewon – lute, gittern
Baptiste Romain – vielle, rebec, bagpipes; direction
