Customer Reviews

Colonial America

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first heard the "Colonial America" CD by Hesperus when I visited Monticello recently (the home of Thomas Jefferson) where they were playing the songs in the gift shop. Imagine my dismay to find that only one cassette tape was left of the fabulous music of Hesperus; however, that tape held me spell-bound all the way home, from Virginia to North Carolina.

It was an incredible journey from the past that has stayed with me since, and every day I drive that one hour back and forth to work. This music has changed everything about the trips, and I can't wait for more.

Thanks to Amazon.com I was able to buy all three CD's, including "Early American Roots," "Colonial America" and the incredible "Celtic Roots" with the most beautiful violas imaginable.

Thank you Hesperus! Please play more!

Novels and movies like Cold Mountain, Oh Brother Where Art Thou? and Song Catchers are showing the growing interest in traditional music and this recording hits the mark. It is music from the days of early America--the time when the first colonists come to America. You can hear the fiddle playing tunes still popular in the Appalachian mountains today and also hear shape note music arranged by Hesperus as wonderful instrumentals. The music takes you to a time when folks were making music in their homes-before TV, before the internet! This recording is good for teachers or educational purposes too- with informative liner notes. All the music is played on folk and early music instruments and it's lively and an enjoyable listen.

I bought this CD to provide me with another dimension to my studies of period events. It truly contains a wealth of music, and takes it place as an important addition to my musical library. Living in the Mt Vernon area, I often travel with the CD playing while visiting historical places, and it provides a wonderful companion to "set the mood" for the myriad locations in the area. The quality of the sound is remarkable, the musicians superb, and the breadth of song selection provides a musical landscape for the period. Highly recommended!!

....or, in other words, the music heard in colonial America was not just Mozart, Michael Haydn, Corelli, and Bach. This is a splendid recording by performance, instrumental arrangement, and selected works. Irish reels, sailor hornpipes, and Scotch ballads are present along with French dances, and 17th-century English popular tunes. Roots of bluegrass are obvious, and I felt the common frontier spirit, more John Adams than Thomas Jefferson. Instruments include viola de gamba, violin, recorders, pennywhistle, and lutes: a trio ensemble appropriate to a town's meeting hall. This album is my favorite of Hesperus, and its variety and brightness provide continual interest. You may find this fine background music when reading histories of the American Revolution.

This CD is amazing--it is simply the best collection of colonial music I have ever heard. The recording is crystal clear, and while the quality is reflective of modern technology, the music sounds identical to that you might hear in a colonial setting (like Williamsburg, VA, for instance).
I really like that this CD does not have any vocal selections--that may be a plus or minus, depending on your taste, but in my opinion, it makes the CD more versatile, either to play as background music, or to turn it up loudly and dance to it. :)

My family listens to this, non-stop, year-round. I plan to buy the other CD's in this series, too.

This cd travels everywhere with me and you can easily imagine a ball at Monticello given by Mr. Jefferson when you hear it.
Try not to daydream too much while driving as i had done several times..lol..it's hard not to with this cd..:)
Perfect for a colonial reenactment or party.

Enjoying my new CD . Listened to it on the way to Colonial Williamsburg. Good service and CD works fine. Thank you!

well, when it came I played the CD right away and.. well.. I was really disappointed!!! The instrumentation sounds fine, except its more like dull Chamber Music (more European Baroque than American!) and very, very booring- with nothing particularly "Colonial American" about it at all. There is one track that I like and could consider enjoyable. The rest of it is ok for background music in a funeral home...
I am a Colonnial History re-enactor, and frankly, this album will not one I play (except if I want to throw a dull party!). I just cant understand the high ratings on this album...