Maillard: Missa ‘Je suis déshéritée’ & Motets
The Marian Consort, Rory McCleery
Jean Maillard’s life is shrouded in mystery, and his music is rarely heard today. Yet in his own time his works were both influential and widely known: indeed, the musicologist François Lesure held him to be one of the most important French composers of his era.
Who better, then, than Rory McCleery’s Marian Consort to give this composer’s rich and varied output its first dedicated recording? Their characteristically precise and yet impassioned performances bring out both the network of influence in which Maillard’s music participated its Josquin-esque pedigree, and influence on successors including Lassus and Palestrina and its striking, individual beauty.
Reviews
"With two women in the group, they make no pretence at emulating what might have happened in the 16th century; but that lets them sing out with more freedom. So this is no-nonsense musicianship, but for all that thoroughly musical...The unfussy performance helps the music enormously." Gramophone
"The performances are models of discretion and musical taste, every texture clear, every phrase beautifully shaped." The Guardian
"Little is known about the 16th-century composer, except that his beautifully smooth polyphony was much admired...As revealed with pellucid clarity by Rory McCleery’s young Marian Consort on this first recording devoted exclusively to Maillard, he was a subtly expressive composer." The Times
"The motets are more adventurous, declamatory and cleverly nuanced, with a recognisable house style. The Marian Consort produces a very pleasing sound." Early Music Today