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B orn in Flanders, Heinrich Isaac (ca. 1450-1517) spent his career between the Medici court in Florence and the court of Emperor Maximilian I in Vienna and Innsbruck. An heir to the Franco-Flemish tradition who was then dazzled by the Italian Renaissance, he was one of the first 'European' composers of the 16th century. His songs are highly varied in character, ranging from the most distraught expressions of grief to joyous Carnival revelry!

This cd presents Isaacs life in music. You can hear Isaac at work during his stay in "Flandria", in Firenze, at the court of the Medici, in Vienna, Innsbruck, Augsburg, in service of emperor Maximilian I.


We have unusually little information about the origins and early life of Heinrich Isaac, the first 'imperial' composer. He is said to have been born in about 1450 in 'Frandria', and contemporaries referred to him as a 'Belga Brabantius'. Heinrich received his musical training while still a boy, probably at the cathedral school in Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp or Brussels. He quickly mastered the polyphonic language of the celebrated Franco-Flemish style and was already internationally famous by about 1470, since his works appear in manuscripts from around that time in Segovia and Innsbruck. These 'youthful works', in which expert polyphonic writing is combined with other creative devices, already display the qualities of the great master he would become. His musical and poetic talent still shines on in his moving farewell song 'Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen'. Reset many times, in the 19th century it was elevated to a kind of anthem by all the German-speaking countries.

Nestled at the foot of the Alps, Innsbruck still bears the traces of an especially rich past. In Isaac's time it was Northern Europe's main gateway to Italy. It is not surprising to see that Isaac turned up here in 1484 as court composer at the court of Duke Sigismund of Austria.

Just one year later, Isaac was one of the singers of the famed baptistery of Florence, which by now was famous throughout Europe. From now on he could count himself among the intimates of no one less than  'Il Magnifico' Lorenzo de Medici, and Lorenzo's son Giovanni, who later would become Pope Leo X! As 'magister musicus' he quickly integrated into this flourishing city. He made many playful settings of Italian songs, married Bartolomea Bello, and to lament the death of Lorenzo de Medici on 8 April 1492, composed the poignant motet 'Quis dabit capiti meo aquam?'. With Lorenzo's death, the Medicis lost their political impact and they were even banished from Florence in 1494.

Back in Innsbruck, Isaac came into contact with the imperial court of Maximilian I. The emperor himself appointed him composer of his newly established chapel in Vienna (the origin of the Vienna Choir Boys!) in 1497. Here, Isaac made a significant contribution to the multiple-voice settings of the monophonic German Lied, using a polyphonic language completely his own. Also known as the tenorlied, these songs give both the vocal line and the instrumental parts more appropriate idiomatic qualities. As the 'imperial' composer, he wrote splendid motets to commemorate the major political and religious events of his time, and was commissioned by the cathedral at Konstanz to compose polyphonic settings of all the liturgical year's chants. This impressive magnum opus was finally completed many years after Isaac's death (1517) by his student Ludwig Senfl in the 3-volume set Choralis Constantinus.

For Capilla Flamenca, Heinrich Isaac is a milestone in the evolution of polyphony, since his Flemish, French, Italian, German and Latin works together make up a European tonal language. They reveal a treasure chest of musical creativity and technical feats that can even astonish today's musicians and melody-lovers!

Flandria
1. Tmeisken was jonck (Arnold Schlick)
2. Sanctus (Missa Tmeisken was jonck)
3. Tmeisken was jonck
4. Ad te clamamus
5. La Morra (Francesco Spinacino)
6. La Morra

Firenze
7. Hora e di maggio
8. Tart ara
9. Fammi una gratia, amore
10. Donna di dentro/ Dammene un pocho/ Fortuna d'un gran tempo
11. O praeclarissima /Alla battaglia
12. Agnus Dei II (Missa La Spagna)
13. Quis dabit capiti meo aquam?
14. La mi la sol

Wien, Innsbruck, Augsburg
15. Las rauschen
16. Ich stund an einem morgen (Heinrich Isaac / Ludwig Senfl)
17. En l'ombre d'un buissonet
18. Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen / O welt / Christe secundum (Missa carminum)
19. O Maria, mater Christi



Liedteksten / Textes chantés / Lyrics 

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Capilla Flamenca

Marnix De Cat: counter-tenor
Tore Denys: tenor
Lieven Termont: baritone
Dirk Snellings: bass
Jan Van Outryve: lute
Liam Fennelly, Thomas Baeté, Piet Stryckers: viol
Patrick Denecker: recorders

Oltremontano

Doron David Sherwin: cornett
Adam Bregman, Harry Ries: tenor sackbut
Wim Becu: bass sackbut

Dirk Snellings: direction

Heinrich Isaac, Tmeisken was jonck

Heinrich Isaac, Tmeisken was jonck

Heinrich Isaac, Hora e di maggio

Heinrich Isaac, Hora e di maggio

Heinrich Isaac, Donna di dentro

Heinrich Isaac, Donna di dentro

Heinrich Isaac, En l'ombre d'un buissonet

Heinrich Isaac, En l'ombre d'un buissonet

5 Diapasons
'La diversité des ambiances et des sonorités'
David Fiala
Source : Diapason, Janvier 2012

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CLASSICA : Prix choc pour Heinrich Isaac!
'Reste le plus stimulant des albums, porté par des interprètes qui excellent tant dans le projet d'ensemble que dans les enluminures de détails.'
Roger Tellart.
Source : CLASSICA, decembre 2011 - http://www.qobuz.com/classica#

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Lovers of Renaissance music can't afford to miss this CD
'This is a typically robust, lively and extrovert hour or so from the vivacious yet sensitive Capilla Flamenca with Oltremontano. '
Mark Sealey

Source : Music Web (UK), March 2012 - http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Mar12/Isaac_RIC318.htm



Heinrich Isaac "Afgestoft"
'Zonder chauvinisme: Capilla Flamenca is een van de beste vocale ensembles van vandaag.'
R.T.
Source : Knack Focus (december 2011) - focus.knack.be/entertainment/