This programme is devoted to Alexander Agricola, one of the representatives of the Franco-Flemish School.
Of the many composers that represent the Franco-Flemish school, Alexander Agricola is one of the most remarkable and atypical figures. He seems to have been rather restless by nature, and it is tempting to assume that this found its way into his music. Little is known about his early years; we do not know where or from whom he received his initial musical training. It is quite possible that he started out his career as a singer in a parish church in his native Ghent.
Agricola’s first appointment was likely at Cambrai Cathedral. At several points in his life, we lose track of where he was. He worked at the French court, which he left without permission, and later in Mantua and Florence. After returning to the French court, he entered the service of Philip the Fair, Duke of Burgundy, in 1500. He travelled to Spain twice and died of fever in Valladolid during his second visit.
Although his surviving output is not particularly large, it covers almost every musical genre of his day: masses and individual mass movements, motets, Magnificats, hymns and laments, chansons and, most unusually, a considerable body of instrumental music.
The programme features Missa In myne Syn, one of the few Renaissance masses based on a Dutch-language song. The Mass is followed by several works connected with devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Alexander Agricola (1445/46–1506)
- Missa In myne Zyn a 4
- Regina coeli a 4
Capilla Flamenca, conducted by Dirk Snellings
(CD: Missa In myne zyn – Chansons/Motets – Ricercar RIC 306, 2010) - Ave domina sancta Maria a 4
- Ave, pulcherrima Regina a 3
Odhecaton, La Reverdie (3), conducted by Paolo Da Col
(CD: Compère, Missa Galeazescha – Music for the Duke of Milan – Arcana A436, 2017) - Salve Regina a 4
Huelgas Ensemble, conducted by Paul Van Nevel
(CD: A Secret Labyrinth – Sony SK 60760, 1999)
Additional track:
Vincenzo Capirola (1474–after 1548)
6. Et in terra pax (Josquin Desprez)
Jacob Heringman, lute
(CD: Sixteenth-Century Lute Settings – Discipline Global Mobile DGM0006, 2000)
Image: In myne zin (www.dbnl.org)
