Early music lovers?

[Guest]

And I don't mean catching the end of Through the Night...

Hope this is the right forum - most of the music I listen to is on CD (or CDs broadcast on the radio), so this seemed most appropriate.

I wonder if there are many other board members who listen to a lot of pre-1600 music. I used to work in a record shop with two (count 'em) fellow early music lovers and we were beset by complaints to turn off the 'dirges' (we also used to clear the shop at 5.30 on Saturday with Stockhausen's Helicopter Quartet, but I digress), so this does seem to be a bit of a minority sport. If you are out there, here is a thread for you.

CDs I have enjoyed recently include:

Machaut's complete motets (Ensemble Musica Nova, ZZT), which sit alongside Ensemble Gilles Binchois' wonderful Machaut recordings on my shelf.

Cinquecento's recent disc of Willaert's Missa Mente tota (Hyperion) - listening now; sprightly performance with immaculate intonation.

Les Jardins de Courtoisie/Anne Delafosse-Quentin: Adam de la Halle (ZZT again)

And Cantica Symphonia's trio of Dufay discs on Glossa: 2 CDs of motets, and one of (mainly Italian) chansons - these performances seem a world away from the Medieval Ensemble of London's 1980s recordings (which hold a special place for me as my introduction to any Renaissance secular music).

Anybody else have favourites or recommendations? The start of a new Josquin cycle was discussed on CDR a few weeks ago which seemed intriguing - I don't recall the details (Andrew McGregor discussing with Jeremy Summerly I think). Anyone heard this?

Cheers!

[Mark Sealey]

freegoat,

Welcome. Yes; plenty of enthusiasm here.

Do you play an instrument, too?

[french frank]

'Morning, freegoat!

Yes, more interest here. Recent(-ish), to me, discs have been:

Pierre de Manchicourt: Missa Cuidez vous que Dieu nous faille (correct translation: Do you believe that God would fail us), The Brabant Ensemble/Stephen Rice - Hyperion

William Cornysh: Stabat Mater, Tallis Scholars, Gimell. Actually, my favourites on this disc are the secular pieces, Ah, Robin; Adieu, adieu; Adieu, courage; and the setting of John Skelton's extraordinary poem Woefully arrayed. (It still attracts composers, with versions by, for instance, Robin Holloway - heard on Choral Evensong a few years back - and John McCabe)

[Richard Tarleton]

Hi freegoat - much of my listening on the cusp of 1600, Dowland my main love both to listen and to play - but earlier English (Tallis, Byrd) and 16thC Spanish, esp. the vihuelists. I've grappled with the lute but these days stick to the guitar (in lute tuning for lute and vihuela transcriptions). Lots of recordings - where to start?

[johnb]

Richard,

Do you have any recommendations for recordings of English Lute Songs?

Somehow, most of what I've heard doesn't feel quite right, one way or another, though that's probably due to my duff idea of what is right or the limited number of recordings I've heard. (It also does help to be able to hear the words instead of trying to then reaching for the CD booklet after giving up.)

[Edit] Apologies, I've realised that the thread is about music prior to 1600.

[freegoat]

Ah! Good to see I am not alone

The Manchicourt disc has been on my list (and it's a very long list...), since I heard the Brabant Ensemble's recording of Clemens non Papa (M. Ecce quam bonum on Signum). Both in terms of repertoire and performance, the Brabants and Cinquecento are doing a great service rooting around the byways of Renaissance polyphony.

I've discovered details of the Josquin disc from the CDR website -
JOSQUIN DESPREZ: Masses de l’Homme armee; Missa Super Voces Musicales; Missa Sexti Toni Metamorphoses / Maurice Bourbon (conductor)
Calliope CAL9441 (CD)
- and will probably give this a go.

And as for my own amateurish efforts at performance...I've been learning the piano for the past couple of years having picked up the basics as a child, but never really pursued it at the time. When I was younger I played in a variety of rock bands (think Phoenix Nights venues, if that means anything ), as a bass guitarist and singer, but the less said about that the better

There is a gap in my collection where Dowland's lute music should be, Richard Tarleton, who would you tip to fill the gap?

Thanks everyone.

[ostuni]

Well, I'm not Richard Tarleton, but I did find myself listening to a few Dowland CDs in the summer. Nigel North's 4 CDs on Naxos are excellent value, and very cleanly played. But for a real sense of fantasy, and some wonderfully flexible, imaginative playing, Hopkinson Smith's 'Dowland: A Dream' on Naïve is unsurpassed.

[Richard Tarleton]

John, most of my collection is instrumental - I'm not expert on song - but the set I keep going back to is the Consort of Musicke's (now quite ancient) complete John Dowland on L'Oiseaux Lyre, 452 563-2 (12 discs) - which has the complete books of songs - with the voices of Emma Kirkby, Glenda Simpson et al - the tenor being the marvellous Martyn Hill, whose "Now o now I needs must part" is one of my Desert Island Discs. I recently bought a disc of Dowland lute songs by Mark Padmore and Elizabeth Kenny but find it quite disappointing. I have a lovely disc by Barbara Bonney called Fairest Isle which includes songs by Dowland, Campion, Morley, Byrd et al with lute, viol consort and the Acadmey of Ancient Musicke Decca 466 132-2.

[Richard Tarleton]

ostuni - yes to both! It is amazing what different things different players find in these pieces. Also highly recommended is anything by Jakob Lindberg, whom I've heard live several times - he's a regular collaborator with Emma Kirkby amongst other things

[MickyD]

I've got quite a few of Lindberg's discs made for BIS - amongst my favourites are one of English lute duets with Paul O'Dette, Vivaldi lute concertos and another of compositions for lute by Haydn - who is a little bit advanced in period to be on this thread, but what a delightful disc! The recording quality on all of them is superb.

[Richard Tarleton]

Lindberg's "Seven suites of Swedish folk tunes" (mostly lute) is one of my favourite discs - BIS CD 1199 - marvellous stuff - 17th-18th century music.

[BBMmk2]

I lpove 'Early Music'.Infact this morniong at work(beofore everybody arrioved!!), I played Purcell's 'Loves Goddes Suire Was Blinds. Another favourite artist is Paul McCreesh and those projects he does.

[Colonel Danby]

I got into early music in a big way when I was about 16 years old: together with my brother who bought a crumhorn from the Early Music Shop in London, which I've no doubt has ceased to trade many moons ago. I even considered buying a harpsichord from a specialist maker, but I thought better of it (and the cost). We were strange children indeed, but then we were at the same school as David Munrow, so we were bound to be a little odd.

One of my first LP purchases I bought was the secular music of Guillaume Dufay (Medieval Ensemble of London directed by Peter and Timothy Davies DSLO 611) and Flute Concertos by Frederick the Great of Prussia (when he wasn't invading Silesia.) I was 14: my music teacher recommended that I seek medical help as a matter of urgency.

[Richard Tarleton]

http://www.earlymusicshop.com/?gclid=CPvA6OvFyaUCFQ4f4Qodp14B-g

[Anna]

I am after some music for viols by Christopher Tye and William Lawes. Have only just started looking and the only one exclusively Tye is by Hesperion XX (which I guess is as good as it gets) I am not bothered if it not exclusively just either of those two composers, mixed would be ok. Also, how does The Rose Consort of Viols stack up against Hesperion? All suggestions welcome.