Lustrous songs and delicate dances

Abstract

A second excursion into Mouton’s work for Stephen Rice and The Brabant Ensemble, Jean Mouton: Missa faulte d’argent & motets (Hyperion cda68385, issued 2022) features motets and a Mass drawn from manuscript and print sources. Some 100 motets, 15 Masses, nine Magnificats and around two dozen chansons by Mouton survive, and Rice observes in his notes that little has been recorded. That a composer of Mouton’s calibre and fame be so sparsely recorded certainly justifies this effort by Rice and his singers. Josquin’s contemporary, Jean Mouton (before 1459–1522), spent his early years in north-western France before his steady climb through the ranks of French church musicians. He had stints in Amiens and Grenoble before joining the royal court in the early 16th century, where he remained in service. Contemporaries suggested a stylistic connection between Mouton and Josquin, but modern scholars note that although both carried the same compositional toolbox, each had his own approach to text and music. Contemporaries and modern scholars agree on Mouton’s craft and steady, flowing melodies, characteristics confirmed by this recording. Motets and Mass alike unfold with few vocal or compositional fireworks. Others have noted that Mouton’s music reflects a stronger interest in contrapuntal interplay than perfect text-setting, and one can sometimes hear an awkward stress or a slightly off-kilter phrase. Nonetheless, this recording puts on display the full range of Mouton’s mastery of Renaissance counterpoint—expertly deployed cantus firmus, finely dovetailed imitation, varied and contrasting part pairings, and more.