Thy Kiss of a Divine Nature: The Contemporary Perotin (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Thy Kiss of a Divine Nature: The Contemporary Perotin Alicia M. Doyle Thy Kiss of a Divine Nature: The Contemporary Perotin. The Hilliard Ensemble. Directed by Uli Aumüller. [Munich]: ArtHaus Musik, 2005. 100 695. $45.99. This semiannual column presents reviews of significant video releases of interest to the field of music and to music libraries, as well as briefly noting other interesting titles. All genres of music in all video formats will be covered, with a preference given to those in DVD. All Web sites accessed 31 May 2006. Despite the fact that the Hilliard Ensemble is given top billing in the title, this really is not a performance DVD, but rather a more abstract film that addresses the way contemporary culture directly affects interpretation of Catholic dogma, art, architecture, and music. Director Uli Aumüller ties all of this together with one overarching thread: that performances of Pérotin historically have reflected the culture of the time of the performance and not the culture of the time of Pérotin. This unifying theme provides a creative springboard for Aumüller who presents a series of four separate narratives that are woven visually, aurally, and philosophically. The resulting film is one in which the performance of Pérotin's music clearly reflects the culture of the first years of the third millennium rather than the first years of the second. Aumüller, in following the unifying theme makes little attempt to create any sort of authentic context for the performance of two-, three-, and four-part French Gothic polyphony. The filming does not take place in the cathedral of Notre Dame, as would be expected, but instead in a variety of locations including Lübeck, Laon, Troyes, Schleswig, Pfullingen, Notre Dame, and St. Denis. The music itself is however performed in an authentic manner. The Hilliard Ensemble's performance of eight French polyphonic pieces from the 12th and 13th centuries serves as the cantus firmus to Aumüller's four-part narrative polyphony. The musical performances mostly take place in Lübeck, at the reconstructed St. Petri (the original building was destroyed in 1942), where the starkness and simplicity of the architecture contrasts beautifully with the ornate nature of the sung polyphony. Aumüller mentions in one of his commentaries on the second disc that the stark background of this edifice allows more imaginative freedom on the part of the listener as there is no visual ornament, but rather a blank canvas upon which the best decorator—the imagination, is provided the freedom to create. Despite the historically inaccurate performing venue, the musical performance of the Hilliard Ensemble is consistently impressive. Rhythmic animation drives their interpretation of the music, resulting in a lively, directional performance. This style of performance is of course representative of current musicological thought—that the music of the Ars Antiqua was a bit more animated, or "ecstatic" as mentioned in the film, rather than lugubrious and drawn out as was the performance norm for most of the 20th century. The second "voice" is a series of scenes from a heated scholarly symposium where historians of various disciplines discuss Pérotin and issues surrounding the culture in which his music was created. In this choreographed sequence of events, a mood of narrative tension is created through the presentation of intellectual prizefighting with the scholars constantly interrupting each other and promoting their own disparate viewpoints. The physical arrangement of the event is curiously in the choir of the cathedral, with the speaker standing in the center, between the two choir stalls. [End Page 164] At moments of controversial discourse, the seated listeners pound on the wood of the individual choir stalls voicing their support or dissent. Who said musicology wasn't a spectator sport? Informal, almost voyeuristic snippets of seemingly spontaneous conversation define the third narrative voice in the texture. The symposium scholars, as well as the choreographer Hans Kresnik and the two dancers, are "caught" discussing the issues of culture and performance while engaged in activities like grocery shopping, strolling through scenic landscapes or the halls of gothic cathedrals, and in backstage preparation. Lastly, a series of collaborations between historian Martin Burckhardt and...