Early Music Now Takes On 15th Century

Early Music Now concludes its 35th season Saturday, May 7, presenting vocal ensemble Blue Heron in a performance of works by Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1420-1497) and several of his 15th-century contemporaries. The program, Divine Songs, was developed as part of Blue Heron’s Ockeghem@600 project.

Boston-based Blue Heron combines a commitment to vivid live performance with the study of original source materials and historical performance practices. Its repertoire includes 15th-century English and Franco-Flemish polyphony, Spanish music between 1500 and 1600, and neglected early 16th-century English music.

Ockeghem@600 is a multi-year project to perform the complete works of Johannes Ockeghem in 13 programs over seven seasons. Born in what is now Belgium, Ockeghem was a composer, choirmaster, singer, and teacher who served in the French court chapel. Blue Heron Artistic Director Scott Metcalfe notes that Ockeghem was regarded by fellow 15th-century composers as a “musical wizard,” acclaimed for both his technical prowess and the “sweet, sonorous, and moving” expressiveness of his work.

Besides concerts, Ockeghem@600 includes significant research into 15th-century performance practices that remain unsolved puzzles—questions as basic as pitch level, voice types, and scoring. By the conclusion of the project, Blue Heron will have created a new complete edition of the music of Ockeghem—all of his songs, motets, and masses—scrupulously based on the original sources and rigorously tested in practice.

Saturday’s concert features six of Ockeghem’s compositions, including one of the dozen Masses he composed. Even though, in Metcalfe’s words, the Missa sine nominee for five voices “lacks an appealing name, omits two moments of the usual five of a Mass Ordinary cycle, and is exceptionally short…Ockeghem has more than a few surprises up his sleeve.” For example, the very brief Kyrie, which runs less than a minute, features a different combination of five voices in nearly every measure.

The program includes songs and motets by Ockeghem and several younger contemporaries. Some of these works complement vocal lines with fiddle or harp.

The fact that Saturday’s concert was crafted based on Blue Heron’s extensive research enhances its depth for performers and audience alike, Metcalfe said. He promises an evening of “beautiful pieces, even if you don’t understand the technical scaffolding” of the compositions.

Ockeghem@600: Divine Songs will be performed at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 7, in the marvelous visual and acoustical setting of St. Joseph Chapel, 1501 S. Layton Blvd., Milwaukee. Tickets are available before noon Friday, May 6 by phone at 414-225-3113 and through the Early Music Now website. Tickets also will be sold at the door. Because of construction at the venue, parking is available only on the street or in the Sacred Heart Center lot at 1545 S. Layton Blvd. The venue requires that a mask fully covering the nose and mouth be worn at all times throughout the building.