Customer Reviews

Come, Gentle Night: Music of Shakespeare's World

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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The music of this CD is as full of passion, grief, joy, humanity, humor, play and pathos as Shakespeare's own body of works. Ensemble Galilei pours their hearts and talents into the various pieces, whether they are resurrecting traditional works, or birthing new ones. From Gamba to harp, pipes to drums, each of these women combines skillful technique with joyful interpretation. I love listening to this CD, whether I'm driving or writing or just hanging out. (and I love watching this group perform, too) I'm a fan, can you tell?

I had heard this group on public radio over the years and finally saw them live recently. That's when I bought this CD, along with several others by E.G. This one is my favorite - really beautiful, soulful music you will still enjoy after many listenings. A wonderful mix of ancient and modern interpretation.

With their soulful playing and artful, sometimes even ephemeral arrangements, the six women of Ensemble Galilei convey a rare depth of emotion. In the insert notes, gamba player Carolyn Ann Surrick describes their creative process: "[In making this recording, we engaged in]...a kind of work that is so focused and intense that years can go by in one afternoon... Extraordinary music-making requires trust... [We] live for the times when the only thing that exists right then is the music--when the instruments are speaking as if we don't exist, and they are having their own conversation." Thank you, Ensemble Galilei, for allowing the rest of us the privilege of coming along for the ride! It's simply delectable. This chamber ensemble, featuring fiddle, harp, gamba, oboe, pipes and percussion, can also be heard on their other Telarc release, "From the Isles to the Courts", and "The Mystic and the Muse: Celebrating 600 Years of Women in Music", on the Dorian label.

I recently had the good fortune to direct a performance of King Lear--the ENTIRE five acts, in a community theatre, non-profit setting. I used twenty-four fully committed non-actors, who for the love of the ideas, participated in this performance. The first and main challenge that I faced was, how do I go "behind" the words, and invoke the right emotions, etc., to give these actors the range and tools needed for an effective, powerful performance? Critical to this performance was the beauty and brilliance of this recording, which I used throughout the various scenes of the play. This helped the performers tremendously, creating the different tapestries in the mind of the Bard. In short, this work is real genius, that I was so happy that I stumbled across. I am now putting in our performance programs, along with our most heart-felt thanks to E.G., the name of the recording and I have copies from Telarc to sell at each performance!

Ensemble Galilei provide some excellent arrangements of English renaissance compositions. I believe that John Playford (English Dancing Master) fans will be particularly satisfied with the renditions presented here. It is very unfortunate that E.G. did not provide more arrangements from such early music sources. Some of E.G.'s own compositions seem very weak and not in the renaissance spirit of the rest of the CD. Nonetheless, this CD is highly recommmended.

Sheer beauty, as a lover of English music I found this to be one of the most beautiful of all Shakespearean albums. Such harmony, such subtlety, one wishes that the gentle night will never stop.

This is an incredible blending of extremely talented musicians. The subtleties and complexities of the music are inspiring and the original compositions are well-written and well-orchestrated. BRAVO!

I bought this music CD by Ensemble Gallilei for "The Asp" written and performed by Jan Hagiwara. I think the piece is one of the highlights of the CD. The music is evocative and beautifully played, and I hope to hear more of her works.

My family love this cd. My daughter is a big fan of all things celtic and Scottish dance. My wife loves classical music. This cd has something for both of them. Great selection of music and well performed.

I found this album to be solid. Very sweet, but not afraid to use percussion which makes it livelier and more fun. I adore the quiet, peacefulness of the music and the flawless execution of these renaissance songs.