Phinot: Missa Si Bona Suscepimus

The Brabant Ensemble; Stephen Rice - director

Dominique Phinot (c1510–before 1561): Missa Si bona suscepimus and other works 1 CLAUDIN DE SERMISY (1490–1562) Si bona suscepimus 4vv [5'37] 2 Pater peccavi 5vv [7'50] Missa Si bona suscepimus 4vv [23'51] 3 Kyrie [2'31] 4 Gloria [5'10] 5 Credo [7'30] 6 Sanctus and Benedictus [5'06] 7 Agnus Dei [3'32] 8 Tanto tempore 8vv [3'57] 9 Iam non dicam vos servos 8vv [4'23] 10 O sacrum convivium 8vv [4'33] 11 Incipit oratio Jeremiae prophetae 8vv [11'38] 12 Magnificat octavi toni 4/5vv [5'24] 13 Confitebor tibi, Domine 4vv [6'56]

Obscurities of Renaissance Polyphony are featured on this new release by the Hyperion Label. Dominique Phinot was in his prime when his life was unexpectedly cut short, but what he left was strong catalogue of polyphonic motets, masses and other sacred choral works. Often overlooked, this disc is evidence that Phinot needs to be explored more in the choral world. The works included on this recording are 'Missa Si bona suscepimus' as well as the motet of the same name (by Claudin De Semisy) on which the mass setting is based. The motets on the disc include settings of the 'O Sacrum Convivium' and 'Tanto Tempore'. I knew virtually nothing of Phinot before heraing this disc, and am now inspired to hear more. The Brabant Ensemble sings beautifully, and gives these works a vibrance and vitality as if they were new works. A wonderful disc and a great find!
The young Oxford choir turns its immaculate ensemble, lucid diction and faultless tuning to an exciting find: a hugely neglected composer from the 16th century. Relatively little is known about Dominique Phinot’s life—there is a suggestion that he was executed for homosexual practices, cutting short a productive and impressive composing career. Phinot’s output consists of over a hundred motets, two Masses, and settings of Vesper Psalms and the Magnificat, as well as two books of French chansons and two Italian madrigals. The acclaim with which his sacred compositions were received is evident both in the frequency of their publication as well as in the writings of his contemporaries. He was clearly renowned as a master of imitative polyphonic writing. The publication in Lyons during 1547/8 of two collections of Phinot’s motets secured his reputation for the rest of the century and beyond. Not only do the five-voice motets in the Liber primus mutetarum confirm his outstanding polyphonic skills but the Liber secundus contains five eight-voice works which are of considerable historical importance. The latter are unique in the mid-sixteenth century in their treatment of double-choir dialogue, a technique in which two four-part ensembles normally alternate thematically related phrases of varying lengths. These works, of which four are included in this recording, are the antecedents of the resplendent Venetian polychoral tradition of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Price: $19.98