THE
P RTAL
November 2016
Page 23
Letter to the Editor
From Dr Richard Lawes
I would certainly echo the opinion of your
correspondent in the October issue, who advises
against being drawn into unhelpful conflicts with
the Catholic bishops of England and Wales. I would,
however, disagree with the suggestion that anyone
may need to be told that we are ‘not so attached’ to
our Divine Worship liturgy.
Roman Rite within the Ordinariate, but many of us
delight in and appreciate the Ordinariate liturgy.
Dr Richard Lawes
Lecturer
Regent’s Park College Oxford
The views expressed in these letters are not necessarily those of the Editors
Nobody is prevented from using the standard
Letters for publication should be sent to:
The Editors, The Portal, 56 Woodlands Farm Road,
Birmingham B24 0PG
[email protected]
Music Review
Pierre de la Rue: Missa Nuncqua fue
pena mayor and Missa Inviolata
The Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice (conductor)
Robert Macneil’s CD of the month
Pierre de la Rue (c. 1452-1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance,
a member of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, and a long associate of the Habsburg-Burgundian
musical chapel. Despite being less well known than others of his time, he ranks amongst the most famous
and influential composers in the Netherlands polyphonic style in the decades around 1500.
It is believed that de la Rue was born at Tournai, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut in modern
Belgium. Along with Tongeren, Tournai is the oldest city in Belgium and it has played an important role in
the country’s cultural history. De la Rue may have been the son of Jean de la Rue, a master enlumineur (one
who decorates or illustrates a text, usually a manuscript) of the town of Tournai. It is likely that de la Rue
was educated at the Notre-Dame Cathedral there, which had a substantial musical establishment.
A ‘Peter van der Straten’ (the Flemish equivalent of his name) is mentioned in the archives of the
Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula in Brussels in 1469-1470, as an adult (tenor) singer. His name is
later mentioned as being a part-time singer at performances of polyphony in Ghent at the Jacobskerk, and
as being employed in Nieuwpoort in 1472, at the church of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw.
In 1489 he was employed by the Confraternity of the Illustre Lieve Vrouwe in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, literally
“The Forest” in English, a city and municipality in the southern Netherlands, the capital of the province
of North Brabant. He had come from Cologne to take up this appointment, having spent some time in
Germany as a tenor singer. He remained at the Confraternity in ‘s-Hertogenbosch until 1492, at which
time he simultaneously became a full member of the Confraternity, and joined the Grande Chapelle of Holy
Roman Emperor Maxmilian. He was to remain in the employ of the Habsburgs, and the Grande Chapelle,
until his death on 20th November 1518.
De la Rue wrote Masses, Motets, Magnificats, settings of the Lamentations, and Chansons, a diverse range
of compositions reflective of his status as the primary composer at one of Europe’s most renowned musical
institutions. This recording features de la Rue’s Missa Nuncqua fue pena mayor, an earlier composition,
and the Missa Inviolata, composed in 1503. They are performed by the Brabant Ensemble who have been
described as ‘perhaps England’s most accomplished interpreters of Renaissance sacred music’. They certainly
live up to that description in this excellent recording from Hyperion.
Pierre de la Rue (c. 1452-1518): Missa Nuncqua fue pena mayor & Missa Inviolata - The Brabant Ensemble,
Stephen Rice (conductor) - Hyperion Records - CDA68150 - www.hyperion-records.co.uk