Tag: Ensemble Clément Janequin

L’écrit du Cri, Ensemble Clément Janequin, Wigmore Hall, 24 July 2010

I’m pretty sure we’d seen Ensemble Clément Janequin before and liked them so much we fancied another go for this concert of secular Renaissance music and modern music in that “Renaissance Cri” style.  They were promoting their album L’écrit du Cri at that time; the concert was basically a performance of the album.

Here is a link for the album L’écrit du Cri: it includes several cris by modern composers as well as Renaissance pieces.

Here is a vid recording of the Ensemble singing Janequin’s hit cri, Les Cris de Paris:

This is not easy listening Renaissance (nor easy listening modern) music. I recall Janie being a little disappointed, awarding a low relaxation score despite the high fascination score and very high “talent” score for this ensemble, always excellent.

But I’m sticking to booking mostly sacred music from this Renaissance period (early 16th century) for Janie from now on. Ensemble Clément Janequin do plenty of that too.

Les Cris De Paris, Ensemble Clément Janequin, Wigmore Hall, 20 May 1999

Janie and I both loved this concert. We weren’t previously familiar with the works of this Renaissance composer, Clément Janequin, nor this eponymous Ensemble.

But by the end of the concert we were familiar with both and had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. All that despite it being a Thursday evening at the end of long working days for both of us and ahead of long working days to boot.

This was the Ensemble’s 20th anniversary programme:

  • Nous Sommes de l’Ordre de Saint Babouyn by Loyset Compere
  • Tant que Vivray / Au Joly Boys / Je ne Menge Point de Porc / Vien Tost by Claudin de Sermisy
  • N’As tu Poinct Mis ton Hault Bonnet / Mon Amy M’Avoit Promis by Ninot le Petit
  • Bransles d’Ecosse / La Romaine by Guillaume Morlaye
  • Mille Regretz / Faulte d’Argent / Douleur Me Bat / El Grillo / Nymphes des Boys / Scaramella by Josquin Desprez
  • Les Cris de Paris / Qu’est-ce d’Amour? / Il Estoit une Fillette / Au Verd Boys/Le Chant des Oyseaulx by Clement Janequin
  • Fantaisie by Albert de Rippe
  • Or Vien Ca / O Mal d’Aymer / Ung Jour Robin / L’Amour, la Mort et la Vie / My Levay Par Ung Matin / La Guerre by Clement Janequin

Twenty years after that, they looked and sounded a bit like this:

The above piece formed part of the concert we heard. The following one did not, but is lovely.

Here follows a video of a whole gig post 2020, which includes several of the works we heard in 1999. Renaissance music never goes out of fashion: