Customer Reviews

Songs & Dances of Middle Age

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At least twice a week lately in fact :-) I find myself fascinated with music of this era and I am very glad I got this album. If you like early music please give the clips a listen and I think you will agree this album is worth buying!

The liner notes contain the lyrics in both the language sung and an english translation. This is handy for folks like me who only know english and want to know exactly what is being sung :-)

...this is hardly one of the best CDs out there. Those who think so have obviously not listened widely enough. I suppose its popularity stems from its title, which gives it away as an easy introduction to the period. Multiple preferable CDs exist for each of the areas it surveys: medieval dance (Istanpitta I and II), Cantigas de Santa Maria (multiple releases under that title), Llibre Vermell (the Sarband release; The Black Madonna), Minnesang (Wanderers' Voices), and trouvere/troubadour repertoire (too many). The bottom line: nice intro, but unnecessary if you want to do more than graze the surface of available talent.

This was my first introduction to music of the Middle Ages -- I purchased it to broaden my musical experience. The musicians and singers provide fine performances. However, the sound recording is very poor -- an occaisional pop is heard, as though it was recorded from an LP. Also, the signal level is too low (especially for a supposedly DDD recording). Increasing the volume makes the background noise annoyingly noticable along with a rumbling sound (as though from a turntable). Since, as another reviewer has observed, there are better collections available, I do not recommend purchasing this recording.

If you have an extensive collection from this period, not for you. If you are curious and want to sample a wide range of the music of this period, definitely worth considering.

I came to this CD after buying the sheetmusic with the same title in order to learn to play the recorder. (I want to learn since my 5 year old daughter is learning the piano and I want to be able to accompany her.) I was happy to get the CD and hear how the pieces are intended to be played. Actually my favorite tunes (some of them are actually very catchy) are performed with the shawm, forerunner to the oboe. I had to find this out from a google search, since little information about the instruments are included with the liner notes, not even which instrument plays on which track. I can't even pronounce some of the names of the instruments. As far as the recording quality goes, yes it has a low signal, so you have to turn the volume way up; but once this is done, I hear no backround noise, hiss etc. Anyway, a great way to learn the recorder, sure beats nursery rhymes.

I love early music, but some performers approach it so solemnly they take the life out of it. Sonus is one of those rare early music groups that actually sound like they have fun playing. They improvise brilliantly, the vocals by Hazel Ketchum are natural sounding rather than operatic, and their taste in material is wonderful. Hearing them, you know why people 700 years ago liked listening to music.