The Sour Cream, a Dutch trio co-founded by Franciscus (Frans) Jozef Brüggen (1934–2014), Walter Van Hauwe (1948-), and Kees Boeke (1950-) in 1972, was a controversial and experimental recorder ensemble since the ensemble focused on experimenting recorder techniques and both revolutionary and traditional interpretations of a wide variety of music, covering a period over six centuries (Van Hauwe, n.d.). The ensemble and its co-founders were and are still hugely influential to recorder communities. The article aims to discuss the background of the trio, and why the trio was controversial and yet significant by reviewing selected tracks from one of their CDs, The Passion of Reason: Five Centuries of ‘Scientific’ Music (GCD P31102. 2 CDs), initially issued in 1996.
The first part of the article will begin with a brief introduction of the three members’ background. Brüggen, one of the trailblazers of the Early Music Movement, also a renowned conductor, composer, recorder player, baroque flautist, was born in 1934 in Amsterdam. Having studied the recorder and flute at the Amsterdam Muzieklyceum, Brüggen continued his studies in musicology at the University in Amsterdam (Oron, 2001). He was appointed Professor of Baroque music at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and was then appointed visiting professor at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley (Schweitzer, 2014). He was made a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2003 and was awarded the Honorary Medal for Arts and Science of the Order of the House of Orange in 2010 (Van der Knijff, 2014). His deeds have built an enduring monument in both early music and contemporary music playing.
Both Van Hauwe and Boeke studied under Brüggen at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Van Hauwe was appointed Professor of Recorder at the Sweelinck Conservatory in 1971; Boeke commenced teaching at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in 1970 and at the Sweelinck Conservatory in 1975 and was appointed Professor of Recorder and Early Music at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in 1990. Van Hauwe, moreover, has written the book, The Modern Recorder Player, that is often deemed as “the Bible” of recorder playing. All three members are undoubtedly legendary maestros in the recorder community; this combination has made the group the centre of attention that has no equals in modernity.
The article will continue with a review of two selected tracks, namely Salvator Mundi by Nathaniel Giles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3DpCkUicRc) and Uppon La Mi Re by Anonymous (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XM39gv_UGw&list=OLAK5uy_l5aWqz0dsMMTAEIf-z0_hMyvpw14fmkKE&index=6), from The Passion of Reason: Five Centuries of ‘Scientific’ Music. The CD is a collection of music (both sacred and secular) by composers across five centuries, from Guillaume de Machaut from the fourteenth century to J.S. Bach from the seventeenth century (Boeke, 1994). All pieces from the CD (mostly from the Renaissance) were written in imitative polyphony, which is one of the characteristics of Renaissance music (Rutherford-Johnson, 2016).
Salvator Mundi (“Saviour of the World” in Latin), one of the significant motifs in various forms of art, by the English composer, Nathaniel Giles (1550–1633) was a sacred piece of music (as seen in the title). Due to the lack of background information, the piece is believed to be originally written for a choir or an organ as deduced from the profession of the composer which was an organist and a master of the Choir of St George’s Chapel.
The piece was played on Renaissance consort recorders, with a full, warm, and mellow sound, in 466Hz (generally acknowledged as high Renaissance pitch). It is reckoned that it was to re-create a historically informed performance (HIP). From a listener’s point of view, it is impossible to learn which part was played by which member of the trio. It is, however, known that one member played the ground bass that is made up of whole notes while the other two members played the two voices on top. The top voices were played in various mathematically complicated rhythmic proportions, i.e. in triplets, in five against three, seven against four, etc.
Albeit challenging, the trio managed to succeed in both playing the sweet, brisk, and twisting melodies vibrantly and lightly with smooth phrasings and the use of different combinations of articulations, e.g., legato and staccato, and the bass supportively, solidly, yet forward-movingly. Details and nuances were precisely brought out without sounding chaotic to the audience. The sounds of the instruments, moreover, blended so harmoniously that sounded like an organ played by one single player. This piece of music was stunningly played with a vivid character and flawlessly echoes the title of the CD as its form, structure, and rhythm are, de facto, ‘scientific’.
The other piece of Renaissance music, Uppon La Mi Re (MB, LXVI, 1995) in the collection Add.29996 (London British Library) by Anonymous, often attributed to the English composer, Thomas Preston (? -1563), is another form of representation of the theme of the CD. The piece was initially for a keyboard instrument but was played on Renaissance consort recorders in this CD. This composition is known as a ground since it is based on the ostinato, meaning that a phrase is repeated in persistent throughout the music (Apel, 1969). In this case, the short repeating phrase is made up of three notes (as mentioned in the title), i.e., la, mi, and re.
This reminds me of another piece of Renaissance music, Missa La Sol Re Mi: Kyrie by Josquin Des Prez (1450–1521) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPTtnXTQw_U), in which ostinato is also adopted, and the thematic materials are further developed. Despite using a similar technique, the two pieces not only differ in music genres (sacred and secular) but also the rigidity of pulse.
In the recording, two members played the two recurrent basses that are structurally identical (three two-beat notes of la, mi, and re) from the beginning till the end, unlike Missa La Sol Re Mi: Kyrie. The sole difference between the two basses is that the second bass comes in two-beat later. The two players applied a non-legato yet weak-accent-like articulation when playing the two basses to suggest a moving motif which not only gives pulse to the music and functions as harmonic components but also supports the top voice by acting as a stable ground. The melody is a variation of the thematic material that was played loosely with legato to create a fluid sense of feeling. The trio, moreover, encapsulated the texture and tonality to bring mysteriousness. If I must criticise, the sole thing to criticise is that ‘scientific’ elements in this piece are not as not many as found in other pieces in the CD. Nonetheless, the piece is splendidly performed.
All in all, this CD is a unique selection of pieces that is utterly intriguing to listen to. Because of the length of the review, not all tracks can be covered and commented. It is, however, notable that they all are gracefully played and enjoyable. Their dynamic and musical-idea-rich interpretations of music have not only proved their creativity and musicality but also deep understanding to various styles and genres of music.
The reasons that they were controversial and revolutionary are believed to be related to the promotion of the Early Music Movement and their avant-garde performances in contemporary music (albeit not shown in this CD). It is plain to see that the trio have great chemistry with each other; their unity in tone colour and tunings were due to countless efforts of years of ensemble playing. The development of HIP is becoming more mature. More and more early music ensembles are established to bring such a music form to a broader audience. Nevertheless, the Sour Cream will always be a role model of musicians and music enthusiasts.
References
Apel, Willi. (1969). Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, Massachuetts: Harvard University Press.
Boeke, Kees. (1994). About this CD. Retrieved from http://www.glossamusic.com/glossa/reference.aspx?id=311
Oron, Aryeh. (2001). Biography of Frans Brüggen (Bach Cantatas Website). Retrieved from https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Bruggen-Frans.htm
Rutherford-Johnson, T. (2016). Renaissance Music. Dictionary Plus Music. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Schweitzer, Vivien. (2014). Frans Brüggen, Pioneer in Early Music, Dies at 79. The New Times. New York: The New Times.
Van der Knijff, Jaco. (2014). Afscheid In Memoriam Frans Brüggen (1934–2014). Reformatorisch Dagblad. Retrieved from https://www.rd.nl/in-memoriam-frans-br%C3%BCggen-1934-2014-1.409431
Van Hauwe, Walter. (n.d.). About Walter Van Hauwe. Retrieved from https://www.waltervanhauwe.org/441070405
