Alfonso Ferrabosco,
known as "Il Padre" to distinguish
him from his son who also became a composer,
lived a life of intrigue and turmoil,
ferrying back and forth between his
Italian homeland and England, where
to the great consternation of the Pope,
served in the Anglican court of Queen
Elizabeth I. Born in 1543, he worked
with Palestrina in the Papal Chapel
until the ascendance of Paul IV in 1555,
when all married men were summarily
dismissed from the Vatican’s service;
Palestrina was to suffer the same fate.
After a series of run-ins with official
Rome, he landed in England where he
worked for Queen Elizabeth I, later
running afoul of her good graces, only
to be reinstated, and removed again.
Thought by some to be a spy and double
agent, he was valued by Elizabeth not
only for his musical ability, but also
for his in-depth knowledge of the goings
on in Rome. Political machinations aside,
he was a unique and original composer,
often eschewing the day’s harmonic conventions.
As a madrigalist, he was a harbinger
of things to come, greatly influencing
the future English madrigal school that
was to come to its apex in the works
of Morley, Weelkes and Wilbye. As a
composer of sacred works, he never betrayed
his Catholic upbringing, setting mainly
Psalm texts that were universal to both
faiths.
Paul van Nevel’s Huelgas
ensemble is the perfect choice for this
harmonically ripe music. Not having
seen the actual scores, I was at first
quite fascinated by the part make up
of the choir. With only one alto listed
in the personnel roster, one wonders
just how the composer achieves the textures
he does with apparently uneven scoring.
I will leave that subject hence alone,
as it is difficult to comment without
the score in front of me.
As for the music itself,
it is typical of the time, excepting
that it is far less "safe"
in its use of jarring shifts of tonal
center. In the Psalm setting, some movements
begin in E major only to end in F-sharp
major, other passages shift from B-flat
into B major, all amazingly seamlessly
and naturally. At least in these selections,
there is very little variation in tempo,
most works moving along in the standard
late renaissance pace of about sixty
half notes per minute, a standard of
tempo derived from the average adult
male’s pulse. What is particularly noteworthy
is the utter transparency of line and
the careful attention that Ferrabosco
pays to the clarity of the text. Each
word, even in the more complex passages
is quite distinguishable, which is due
in part of course to this choir’s scrupulous
attention to balance and enunciation.
Although the singing
of the Huelgas Ensemble is flawless
in tone quality and their tuning is
perfect, I would have appreciated a
bit more dynamic variety. What I perceived
was beauty for beauty’s sake, and it
would have been somewhat refreshing
to hear a little more Italian angst,
especially in the madrigals with their
more adventuresome and emotion packed
texts. That is a taste issue with me,
however, and my personal whims in no
way kept me from thoroughly enjoying
this beautifully recorded disc of glorious
music, heretofore unknown to me.
Excellent, entertaining
and informative program notes by Maestro
Van Nevel cap off a first rate recording,
up to Harmonia Mundi’s customarily high
standards. No lover of vocal polyphony
will want to be without this lovely
recording.
Kevin Sutton
The Huelgas Ensemble/Paul Van Nevel 
