Le Chancelier: Ecole de Notre Dame is a reissue of Philippe le Chancelier: Notre-Dame-Schule, recorded in 1986 but not issued until 1990. Here Sequentia treads on territory that is admittedly dicey insofar as scholarly precision is concerned: Philippe the Chancellor, was the top ranking layman within Notre Dame Cathedral during the first quarter of the thirteenth century, and is known primarily as a figure in theological and literary pursuits. While much verse of the medieval period survives in musical settings, instances where the writer of the lyric is also believed to be the composer of the music are rare indeed.
Here Sequentia makes the case for Philippe le Chancelier as a composer, and admittedly the result is quite convincing: every composer has preferences in relative position to the kinds of melodic ideas and rhythmic gestures employed, and all nine of the pieces presented here seem to conform to the taste of a single, musical identity. This is an unusual Sequentia album in that vocalist Barbara Thornton isn't heard from much, although she's given the longest piece to sing, the lai Veritas, equitas. Le Chancelier: Ecole de Notre Dame also includes an outstanding instrumental performance of the three-voice La lai des Pucelles. Philippe's lyrics are included in excellent translations, an absolute necessity for a program of this kind.
This reissue is mainly different from the earlier release in that an outer slipcover has been added to identify the disc as belonging to DHM's "Splendeurs" series, and although some of the notes in the book have been slightly updated, neither the content nor price point has changed. But it is certainly welcome nonetheless to have Sequentia's Le Chancelier: Ecole de Notre Dame back in the active catalog.