Jean Mouton
Jean Mouton's early sixteenth-century motets and masses unfold in supple, equal-voiced polyphony, often built on canons. The writing keeps every line singing, with continuous melodic flow rather than sharp textural contrast.
More than a hundred motets survive beside masses, Magnificat settings and chansons, many written for court and church occasions. Canonic craft sits at the centre of the sound: voices enter on the same material at staggered times, sometimes as double or quadruple canons that still read as graceful, fully scored polyphony. Nesciens mater, an eight-part Christmas motet grown from four canonic lines, is a clear instance of that ingenuity. Beside Josquin the textures can feel more even and less sharply varied, yet the imitation stays close and the melodic thread keeps moving. Later composers returned to his joyful Christmas pieces as models for masses of their own.
Compositions by Jean Mouton appear on
Christmas to Candlemas
Ensemble Gombert is one of Australia’s finest choral groups. Directed by John O’Donnell – organist, harpsichordist and highly respected academic – the ensemble is known for historically informed performances of Renaissance and later choral repertoire.