One thing we are learning as groups such as Trio Mediaeval range farther from the familiar central figures and most oft-turned manuscript pages of early music repertoire is that this territory can be as engaging and musically rewarding as found in any of the more highly exalted realms. Here, in the trio’s second release for ECM we are treated to a mass by 15th-century English composer Leonel Power who, along with John Dunstable played a leading role in English music of the period (many of his works are found in the Old Hall Manuscript). While his style is rooted in conventional practice, Power never stays long in the confines of expectation, exemplified in sudden Gesualdo-like harmonic surprises and elastic rhythmic schemes, which certainly will keep today’s listeners involved, much as it must have enthralled scores of 15th-century congregants!
As opposed to Trio Mediaeval’s earlier disc, this one primarily features modern pieces, but these are works with close ties to ancient forms and styles–and of course, not just anyone can successfully meld old and new, finding a modern context for the directness and unadorned refinement of early sacred music (witness John Tavener’s contrived, pretentious, self-indulgent efforts, for example). Gavin Bryars is one of the few composers who seems to innately sense such a manner and method, and his Ave regina gloriosa (Lauda VII) is a classic example, perfectly rendered for the voices of Trio Mediaeval. As the program progresses–Power’s mass movements interspersed with new works by Bryars, Andrew Smith, and Ivan Moody–we can’t help but be impressed by how seamlessly these old and new pieces (all of the latter written especially for these singers) flow one to the next and how effectively they complement each other.
When we arrive at Ivan Moody’s A Lion’s Sleep, however, we appreciate certain clues to its 21st century origin while remaining solidly in a medieval harmonic and textually expressive idiom. It’s an ingenious and memorable piece that we’re sure to hear in the trio’s upcoming concert programs. These singers once again prove their formidable technical capabilities while maintaining their trademark rich-colored blend–and the program’s variety is enhanced with solo turns by each of the three singers. The sound is ideal.
My only gripe is with the rather lame defense by John Potter (who produced the CD) as to the absence of text translations. Although he claims that literal translations of texts “channel listeners’ attention into meanings that are no longer there”, and suggests that the texts today don’t mean what they did in the contexts in which they originally were sung, the fact is, by themselves “Laude novella sia cantata” or “Ave donna santissima” will mean nothing to most modern listeners, and to claim that we somehow will be misled if we have a literal translation of these texts is absolute nonsense. Would Potter (for whom I otherwise have the utmost respect) have us accept the notion that if a text is of a certain age or is somehow contextually removed from the immediate present we should forget about translating or otherwise trying to understand it? So because we no longer speak Latin, we shouldn’t bother to translate anything in that language? Please, Mr. Potter, just give us the translation. I think we can handle it.
