# Perotin



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

My current LP-transfer-to-CD project is Is Volume One of the Sine Qua Non "Masterpiece Series" - Music of the Medieval Era. The subsections, represented by LP sides, are Ambrosian Chant, Gregorian Chant, Perotin, Machaut, De la Halle, Dufay, and an LP of instrumental music on period instruments.

At this point the transfers are about half done, up through Machaut. The music, and the evolution of techniques (probably the wrong word) are quite interesting. Perotin's works, _Viderunt Omnes_ and _Sederunt Principes_ are particularly striking here. The performances, by Alfred Deller and other soloists, the Deller Consort and Medieval Chamber Ensemble, were recorded in a large, 'live' and echoic hall, maybe in consideration of the works' associations with Notre Dame Cathedral. When the Consort and Chamber Ensemble are playing the result makes the phrase 'a wall of sound' very applicable. The live spectogram that my software (GoldWave) produces even looks approximately like a wall.

I am wondering if this sort of venue is 'standard operating procedure' for Perotin's music. Anybody know?


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

The "cathedral" effect seems to serve Perotin's music well.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

KenOC said:


> The "cathedral" effect seems to serve Perotin's music well.


This rendition of _Viderunt Omnes_ is *way* different from Deller's. No wall of sound here. I wonder how much (if any) of that difference is due to the progress of scholarship.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Hilltroll72 said:


> This rendition of _Viderunt Omnes_ is *way* different from Deller's. No wall of sound here. I wonder how much (if any) of that difference is due to the progress of scholarship.


A lot of the performances of renaissance (and pre-renaissance music especially) are quite different from each other. I suspect that the often total absence of directions in the score drive this. A lot of room for creativity! Scholarship may not have a lot to play with...


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

If these vinyl issues were part of the Bach Guild Series on Vanguard, they might be available on CD, reissued by Artemis Classics. check out this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Machaut-Maste...4&keywords=Viderunt+Omnes+/Sederunt+Principes


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

millionrainbows said:


> If these vinyl issues were part of the Bach Guild Series on Vanguard, they might be available on CD, reissued by Artemis Classics. check out this link:
> http://www.amazon.com/Machaut-Maste...4&keywords=Viderunt+Omnes+/Sederunt+Principes


Only the Perotin-Machout disc is from Vanguard recordings. The CD your link points to may contain some of the same performances. The two unhappy reviews are entertaining, though the one complaining of distortion may have confused a natural 'wall of sound' with microphone overload. Hah; or maybe both factors are present.

The 'limited edition' box set I am working with has no recording dates listed. I suspect that the performances by the Choir of the Polifonica Ambrosiana, the Choir of the Vienna Hofburgkapelle, the Cambridge Consort, and the Petit Ensemble Vocal de Montreal were taken from other SQN releases.


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

If it is this recording:






then it seems like they used a regal (a kind of portable pump organ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regal_(musical_instrument)) along with a few other instruments to give the background drone, which is probably what makes the wall of sound effect, whereas the Hilliard Ensemble recording is a cappella. I expect reflective stone walls are pretty good for presenting this kind of music, the Hilliard was recorded in Boxgrove Priory in Sussex but I couldn't find where the Deller was recorded. Perhaps if they used a church rather than a concert hall then the drone would be overwhelming.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

That is probably the same recording.


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