# Antoine Busnois or Gilles Binchois what are the best cds by these two?



## deprofundis (Apr 25, 2014)

I notice these two were franco-flemish specie so i decided to investigated a bit more.
The thing is, i got some Busnois and couple of track of Binchois and dont know whhere to start to have a cd by both worth checking out??

Im clueless of these two? yet they seem rather interresting hmmm?

:tiphat:


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

The Busnois Homme Armé mass is a real favourite of mine, a real masterpiece. I know a couple of recordings, the one I seem to listen to most is Bruno Turner's. If you don't know this mass you're in for a real treat.


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

Antoine BUSNOIS: Missa "L'homme armé"; _Anima mea liquefacta est_; _Gaude celestis domina_
:: Kirkman/Binchois Consort [Hyperion '01]

Busnois' Missa "L'homme armé" is perhaps the most vivid and outgoing mass of its day aside from Dufay's downright festive Missa "Se la face ay pale" of a decade or so earlier, with Busnois putting the singers through the Renaissance vocal ringer. Even listeners who generally find Renaissance masses a bit of a snooze might be able to stay awake throughout the Busnois. The writing is very athletic and free-spirited, tending to flout/defy convention and break the "rules" while still managing to be aesthetically appealing, with vivid textures that are pleasing to the ear. The Mass proved very popular and influential and is often credited with sparking the "L'homme armé" craze of the early and middle Renaissance wherein every composer worth his salt was compelled to compose a mass using the innocent little theme as its cantus firmus in hopes of one-upping the competition-more than 40 masses based on the "L'homme armé" ("The Armed Man") tune survive. (This craze/competition is somewhat analogous to the later _In nomine_ craze in England and the _La folia_ craze on the continent.)

The Binchois Consort gives the challenging work an excellent performance, about as good as and fairly similar to the one by Pro Cantione Antiqua (PCA) on its venerable Archiv recording from the late '70s. Both use two voices per part for the most part, but the Binchois strips away the subtle chamber organ and less-subtle sackbutt accompaniment used here and there in the PCA account, and its voices are cleaner and smoother if correspondingly less earthy and distinctive; on balance, however, its interpretation and the general character of its singing is not so far removed from that of its illustrious predecessor. The biggest difference comes in the Agnus Dei, where the Binchois is less urgent and ardent than the very urgent and ardent PCA; here, I'd have to say that the Binchois gets it about right and PCA pushes a bit too hard. If I tend to favor PCA elsewhere, it's mostly because I have an uncommonly strong affinity with that group's earthy and distinctive ways.

The Binchois Consort disc also includes the motets _Anima mea liquefacta est_ and _Gaude coelestis Domina_. Like Busnois' famous later motet, _In hydraulis_, _Gaude coelestis Domina_ is a complex motet full of clever puzzles and contrivances that Renaissance composers indulged in to impress other Renaissance composers. Unlike _In hydraulis_, which is decidedly avant-garde for its time, this is more of an Old School motet, sounding as Medieval as Renaissance. The highlight of the work comes at the end, when the music down-shifts into a deliberate and rigorous contrapuntal conclusion of almost in-your-face old-fashioned formality-very nice. _Anima mea liquefacta est_ is a more flowing and mellifluous but less interesting work to my ears, but it's likeable enough and provides a nice contrast to _Gaude coelestis Domina_. Both works are given top-notch performances by Kirkman and the Binchois Consort.

~

The ultra-complex _In hydraulis_ is too contrived for my taste, but it's pretty interesting in its way. I've never found a wholly satisfying recording of it, but the live Hilliard Ensemble account [Coro] is strangely compelling despite the quirky tone of the too-prominent counter-tenor. _Victimae paschali laudes_ is a lovely work that's more complex than it seems; it's given a nice performance by Wickham/The Clerks' Group [ASV], who perform in a slightly more blended and choral manner than the other groups cited. The Orlando Consort has also made some nice Busnois recordings, which are sprinkled about various albums.


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