Audio CD
Number of discs: 3
Format: APE (image+cue)
Size: 307 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Notre Dame School Beata es virgo, gradual
02. Notre Dame School Descendit de celis, 3 part organum
03. Notre Dame School Dixit Angelus, 1 part responsorium
04. Notre Dame School Gaude Maria, 2 part responsorium
05. Notre Dame School Laude Jocunda, 2 part prose
06. Notre Dame School Descendit de celis & Tamquam sponsus, 2 part organum
07. English Alleluia Nativitas, 3 part organum
08. Notre Dame School Beata Viscera, 1 part conductus
09. Notre Dame School Viderunt omnes, 4 part organum
10. Notre Dame School Dum sigillum, 2 part conductus
11. Notre Dame School Benedicamus domino, 2 part organum
A wonderful DVD-Edition
800 years after the first performance of the first four-voiced vocal composition in European music history, inpetto filmproduktion celebrates together with the ARTHAUS MUSIK label, the postproducer digital images and the german distributor NAXOS the composer Perotinus Magnus.
The result is a DVD edition, which will set standards for some time to come, and will serve as work of reference not just for Perotinus Magnus, the father of European polyphonic composition, but also for a contemporary approach to medieval thought in general and its significance to this day.
The edition contains three films in one; three films with three different foci, three films that are like a triptych, where theme and aesthetics combine to form a higher unity.
The trilogy opens up with the film “Dein Kuss von göttlicher Natur – Der ZEITgenosse Perotin” (Thy kiss of divine nature – the conTEMPOrary Perotin), a 95-minute long staged documentary, featuring the world-famous Hilliard Ensemble interpreting the music of Perotinus Magnus and his time. The Hilliard Ensemble was filmed in Lübeck’s St. Petri church, a hall basilica of cathedral-like dimensions with five naves, whose pillars and vaults were illuminated with video light using five high-performance video projectors on an area of 2,500 m2. The lyrics of the Latin texts of Perotin’s works were interpreted to make them accessible to a contemporary audience, in a sensuous and expressive way. A choreography by Hans Kresnik forms the highlight of this video light production, which undertook to present the myth of the virgin birth as choreographic theatre. This film in its HD-version can be shown on festivals or other public screenings with its amazing sharpness, deep contrasts and intense and beautiful colours.
The film “Die Vision eines Filmprojektes” (The vision of a film project) forms the second part of this trilogy. Two years before the start of shooting, author and director Uli Aumüller explained the idea behind his unusual film in the form of a virtual interview – with reversed roles: the voice of the director asks the questions, the voice of congenial speaker Ulrich Ritter answers. A year and a half after the end of shooting, this “audio play”, originally produced to find sponsors, was made visual using the project’s film materials. It is an (at least) two-voiced fugue between sound and image, between verbal imagination and pictorial design, whose oscillation has yet to find its match in German film production. (Cutting time was 45 days – you can see it, you can hear it!)
The third part of the triptych is a passionate dispute between four renowned music and cultural experts, Dr. Martin Burckhardt, historian of culture, Prof. Rudolf Flotzinger, historian of music, Prof. Christian Kaden, sociologist of music and Prof. Jürg Stenzl, historian of music, who, in March 2004, as part of a symposium held in the choir stalls of Schleswig cathedral, have a hot debate about Perotinus Magnus: did he exist, what was his undisputed and revolutionary impact, and how should we think of his music, which receives an entirely new interpretation every 10 years. The four scholars present their opposing theories, they search for a balance, which in turn poses new questions. These questions necessarily remain open even after an hour of intense discussion, because there are no easy answers, despite the passionate engagement on the topic.