Les chansons de Josquin (II)

Nymphes, nappés – Josquin Desprez (1450 ca -1521)
Fortuna desperata – Antoine Busnois (1430 – 1492) / Josquin Desprez
Ricercar 33 – Marco dall’Aquila (1480 – 1538)
In te domine speravi – Josquin Desprez  
Douleur me bat – Josquin Desprez  
Ile Fantazies de Joskin – Josquin Desprez  
Quant de vous seul – Johannes Ockeghem (1410 -1497)
Ricercar – improvisation 
Mille regretz – Josquin Desprez  
Canción del Emperador – Luys de Narváez (1500 – 1560)
Regretz sans fin – Josquin Desprez
En l’ombre d’un buissonet – Josquin Desprez
La Bernardina – Josquin Desprez
Adieu mes amours – Josquin Desprez
Ricercar – improvisation  
Ave maria – Josquin Desprez

Dulces Exuviae
Romain Bockler – baritone
Bor Zuljan – lute

This concert was made possible thanks to the support of the Fondazione Nuovi Mecenati – French-Italian Foundation that supports contemporary creativity.

Tickets: Full price € 18 / reduced € 12
Because of the Covid19 restrictions, the capacity of the venues will be reduced therefore booking of seats is mandatory for all events.
We inform our public that, as of 6 August, according to the provisions of the D.L. 23 July 2021 n. 105 relating to “urgent measures to deal with the epidemiological emergency from COVID19 and for the safe exercise of social and economic activities”, access to spaces open to the public managed by L’Homme Armé, will be allowed only to people equipped with a Green Pass. The Covid-19 Green Pass certification attests one of the following conditions:
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In the end of 15th century, when the musical composition gained importance as a true artistic creation and the term “composer” appeared, Josquin Desprez achieved unprecedented success. No other composer before him had ever been so admired by his contemporaries, and he himself was well aware of his popularity. This is why he had not hesitated to ask for a salary almost twice as high as that of his contender, the renowned Henricus Isaac, in order to run for the Duke of Ferrara’s musical establishment when the post became vacant in 1503. By that time, Josquin had spent almost twenty years in Italy, first in Milan in the service of the Sforzas, then in Rome in the papal chapel. During those years it seems that he also spent a few years in the service of the King of France, Louis XII, before being hired by the Duke of Este where he only stayed one year. After a career made of incessant journeys at the service of multiple patrons, Josquin returned to his native Hainaut to take a peaceful retreat in Condé sur l’Escaut, as provost of the church Notre-Dame.

His fame as a composer was most probably amplified also by the birth and rise of the musical printing press at the beginning of 16th Century. The publication of his works not only accelerated their circulation, it also encouraged the multiplication of dubious attributions. It is true that his name was a guarantee of good sales. According to an anecdote reported by Baldassare Castiglione in his Book of the courtier, “when a motet was sung before the Duchess, it pleased no one and was not found good, until it was learned that it has been composed by Josquin Desprez”. This explains why, even several decades after his death, “new” works by Josquin were still being published all over Europe. This phenomenon particularly affected his songs, a very small number of which were copied or printed during his lifetime. The most famous of all today, Mille regretz, was not attributed to Josquin until 1538, seventeen years after his death, and five years after it was first published under the name of “J. Lemaire”.

In this programme the duo Dulces Exuviae focus not on Josquin – the master of polyphony, but rather on his melodic inspiration, which can sometimes be obscured when all the voices are sung simultaneously. This was at least the opinion of Baldassare Castiglione in his aforementioned book: “It seems to me that he who sings well makes a beautiful music, reading the score with confidence and in a pleasant way. But it is even more beautiful to know how to sing upon the lute, because all gentleness consists almost in one melody, and you notice and hear the air and the art of singing much more carefully, when the ears are not occupied listening to more than one voice ».

Inspired by various 16th century treatises that describe in detail how to improvise melodic ornaments, Romain Bockler and Bor Zuljan have chosen to renew our auditory experience of Josquin’s music by transforming his complex polyphonies into as many accompanied melodies where the subtleties no longer lie in the contrapuntal relationships between the various parts of the polyphony, but in the flexibility and virtuosity of the voice, which forms a harmonious whole with the lute. His chansons are thus “rich in different melodies” by the addition of fredons or diminutioni, which open the way to a new approach to the most beautiful works of the “golden age of polyhony”.
Philippe Canguilhem (adapted by Bor Zuljan)