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Complete Motets of Machaut (re-release) Since the beauty, richness and diversity of such an oeuvre made it impossible to choose amongst the 23 motets by the Canon of Reims, the Musica Nova ensemble decided to embark on the adventure of a complete recording.

Two years of work and research were necessary for putting this programme together, as the musicians strove for an in-depth approach to each motet in terms of both style and an instrumentation made possible by the very structure of the ensemble.

This disc, which had a resounding critical success when first released, offers the first complete translation in modern French of Guillaume de Machaut's motets.

An indispensable set!

The emblematic work of the gothic period, Guillaume de Machaut's Messe de Notre Dame is where music blossomed into polyphony, just as architecture gained height thanks to the use of the ribbed vault and flying-buttress. A quest for light, as in the cathedral in Reims, where Machaut was canon.

"The work of Guillaume de Machaut dominates the French 14th Century. It was bequeathed to us thanks to 6 illuminated manuscripts kept in the French National Library in Paris.Those manuscripts assemble the full poetical and musical works of the composer, structured as a very precisely organised entity.The musical part is composed of motets, virelais, ballads, lais, rondeaux and the famous Messe de Notre Dame. Thanks to the research of 20th century musicologists, we can now assess the full importance of this work enabling performers to read his music directly from manuscript sources and make us more and more familiar with this ancient media.This proximity with Guillaume de Machaut is an essential component of our work as a polyphonic ensemble. In this new recording devoted to the canon of Reims, we invite you to follow our poet-musician in the fantastic and experimental world of his ballads." Lucien Kandel

A beautiful collection of haunting pieces for flute, played by master flautist Pierre Hamon.

Pierre Hamon has chosen from a wide range and time span - medieval repertoire, a sefarad song, an armenian melody, traditionnal colombian themes and contemporary pieces of Philippe Schoeller and Mario Lavista.

Pierre Hamon offers ‘A poetic, exhilarating journey on the wings of time, an investigation into the primitive magic power of music, combining festive medieval modes, traditional trance musics, and dreamlike contemporary escapades.

Musica Nova, with its rich experience performing the ballades and motets of Guillaume de Machaut, set out to rewrite the book on his most famous and emblematic work: the so-called Messe de Nostre Dame. The very elaborate construction of the mass and its strange and subtle harmonies win the admiration of all. But do we really know what its true sound was?

Aeon have delved into the 14th-century theory of musica ficta, led by specialist Gérard Geay. In order to perform this music the singers worked from various 14th-century manuscript sources using reading techniques of that era in an attempt to stay as close as possible to the phrasing and vocal movement that Machaut might have had in mind. Reading from the manuscript places the singer in a world of long note values with ternary divisions (modus perfectus), which automatically suggests longer breaths and a more spacious performance. Machaut’s mass alternates between two styles of composition: the conductus, in which all voices follow the same rhythm, and the isorhythmic motet, specific to the Ars Nova.