Chorus Ecclesiae | Heinric Isaac’s Missa Presulem Ephebeatum
November 9, 2024, St Mary’s in Ascot Vale, VIC
Choral music of the Renaissance masters is not for the faint hearted. It’s tight-rope walking for singers with each line finely crafted to fit just so with the others. But when sung well, and in a good acoustic, the music is life-giving, spiritual and satisfying. As it was intended to be.
Chorus Ecclesiae was set up by Director Shanti Michael to perform sacred early music, we’re talking Georgian, chant and early polyphony, so there were big expectations for this program of works by medieval composer Petrus Wilhelmi de Grudencz, the premier in Australia of Heinric Isaac’s Missa Presulem Ephebeatum and works by Marenzio, de Monte, Fawkner and Phillips.
And Michael delivered. From the live acoustics of the basilica of St Mary’s in Ascot Vale, with its marble-lined altar and a baldacchino bigger than the one at St Peter’s Toorak, to the blended voices, hand picked I’m sure for their strength, technique and overall balance. A breathtaking performance that lovers of music should hear for both academic and performance practice rigour and sheer beauty.
The Presulem Ephebeatum from the Codex Speciálník by Petrus Wilelmi de Grudencz for low voices opened the concert with a powerful introduction by Anish Nair, and featured responses between paired parts, notably Zachery Hamilton-Russell, Timothy Daly and Michael Cooper. All excellent singers. The texts outside of the mass setting focused on one of the early saints of the church, St Martin, whose feast day is 11 November, providing context and relevance for the program.
I cannot say I’m familiar with Isaac’s Missa Presulem, but it is obviously a fine example of music from this period. And I think because the text isn’t really the focal point of the music, instead it’s the composition and the voices that transport you into a very special place. I noticed the composer draws us by playing with the pairing of voices and those soaring high notes, delivered again and again by Elspeth Bawden and Jesika Clark.
Moving into the Renaissance proper with music of Luca Marenzio and Philippe de Monte really showed off the ensemble and direction by Shanti Michael, who kept firm control of the performance much to our awe.
The main part of the second half of the program was Fawkner’s Gaude Virgo Salutata, a hymn to the Virgin Mary. The high voices, including Brigid Cooper and Katie Richardson, shone through. It’s a wonderful work that outlines key moments in Mary’s personal journey from the visit of the Angel to the Dormition. O Beatum Martunum by Peter Phillips concluded the program with just the right amount of joy.
Under the Direction of Shanti Michael, Chorus Ecclesiae delivered a program that was a powerful reminder of what is at the core of classical western music, both its ancient and sacred roots and the power of the mind to harness sound into transformational and spiritual experience.
