Album insights
The CD presents the first recording dedicated to exploring Dominique Phinot's sacred works, highlighting how much early 16th-century music remains uncharted for today's audiences. Details about Phinot's life and career are scant, derived mainly from a few documents dating back to the 1540s and 1550s. He served as a musician in the court of Duke Guidobaldo II of Urbino and was recommended as the "cantor" at Pesaro Cathedral in 1544.
Phinot's compositions, published between 1538 and 1555, suggest he was likely in his late twenties around 1538, implying a birth year of approximately 1510. His death, noted in Girolamo Cardano's Theonoston due to alleged homosexual practices, is estimated before 1561. Phinot crafted over 100 motets, two Mass settings, Vesper Psalms, Magnificats, French chansons, and Italian madrigals. Renowned for his imitative polyphonic style, he was esteemed alongside Gombert, Clemens non Papa, Willaert, and others following Josquin Desprez.
Phinot's motet collections from Lyon in 1547/48 secured his reputation through the centuries. Noteworthy are the five-voice motets in Liber primus mutetarum revealing his polyphonic genius and the historical significance of five eight-voice works in Liber secundus. These delve into double-choir dialogues uniquely structured around thematically related phrases presented alternately by two four-voice ensembles. Such innovations influenced Venice's grand multi-choir tradition in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
His sacred eight-voice motets vividly display Phinot's manipulation of double-choir techniques prevalent in early 16th-century liturgical music of Northern Italy, notably Veneto. Focusing on Psalms and hymns, sections assigned to alternating choirs of varying lengths and tonal contrasts created an evocative dialog between ensembles.
Phinot's compositions prioritize musical structure over liturgical adherence. Particularly remarkable is "Incipit oratio Jeremiae prophetae," an elaborate narrative piece deviating from standard lament traditions. The communion motet "O sacrum convivium" evokes a serene contemplative atmosphere with intricate exchanges between choirs, while "Tanto tempore" poignantly conveys Christ's disappointment. "Iam non dicam vos servos" embraces a narrative style elaborating Christ's teachings.
A debated theory involving Renaissance polyphony performance, the "secret chromatic art," suggests adding B flats during renditions of certain pieces to alter tonalities. This technique is evident in Phinot's "Pater peccavi," elucidating the lost son's tale through spiraling modulations and expressive sequences, embodying this avant-garde practice.
Phinot's adaptation of Claudin de Sermisy’s "Si bona suscepimus" portrays narrative clarity and heightened expressiveness in a traditional framework. His Mass incorporates Sermisy's motifs adeptly, delineating passionate text settings through varied structural subdivisions and imitative pairs typical of the era.
While Vesper psalms like "Confitebor tibi, Domine" may lack the grandeur of double-choir motets, they held significant religious importance. Phinot's rendition adheres closely to the Cantus, displaying harmonic innovations within conventional structures. Similarly, his Magnificat in the 8th tone showcases greater melodic freedom and thematic contrasts, emphasizing harmonic complexity in select verses.