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Obrecht's Scaramella mass, written in the late 15th century, survives with only two of the four voice parts intact, the other two having been lost. Composer and musicologist Fabrice Fitch, drawing on his extensive knowledge of the music of the time, has painstakingly reconstructed the mass not precisely as Obrecht originally wrote (which would be impossible) but creatively using techniques that the composer has used elsewhere in other masses, and sometimes extrapolating from these to create solutions that are in keeping with Obrecht's imagination.Hortus is a new choir singing one voice per part and specialising in early music. We are very proud to present in this programme the first time that this mass has been heard in the UK for at least 525 years (or possibly ever!). The Binchois Consort gave the world premiere of this mass in May in Regensburg, Germany and a CD recording will be available soon. It is an honour to be able to be the second choir to present this music but especially to have been given the freedom to discover it ourselves through rehearsal and experimentation.
Who was Scaramella? From the Italian commedia dell'arte (alongside Columbine, Pierrot, Harlequin, and others), he is often called Scaramouche (and in which guise he finds himself immortalised in Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody). He is a boastful and cowardly character but in the song that Obrecht uses as a basis for this mass, he is going to war with his lance and buckler.
This is the same song that Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell sings to himself before his execution, and also features in this concert in a pair of frotollas (sort of early madrigals) written by Louis de Compere and Josquin des Prez. Who wrote the original tune? We will probably never know...
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Inverness Cathedral, St Andrew's Cathedral, Bishop's Road, Inverness, IV3 5NS, United Kingdom,Inverness