Music Of The Crusades

Geoffrey Shaw (Performer), Anonymous (Composer), French Anonymous (Composer), Manuscrit du Roi Anonymous (Composer), Chastelain de Couci (Composer), Conon de Bethune (Composer), Guiot de Dijon (Composer), Gaucelm Faidit (Composer), Marcabru (Composer), Richard I Coeur-de-lion (Composer), King of Navarre Thibault IV (Composer), Walther von der Vogelweide (Composer), Charles Brett (Performer), James Bowman (Performer), Early Music Consort of London (Performer), Christopher Hogwood (Performer), James Tyler (Performer), Christina Clarke (Performer), Nigel Rogers (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Geoffrey Shaw, Charles Brett, James Bowman, Early Music Consort of London, Christopher Hogwood, et al.
• Composer: Anonymous, French Anonymous, Manuscrit du Roi Anonymous, Chastelain de Couci, Conon de Bethune, et al.
• Audio CD (April 5, 1991)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B0000041XJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,343 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous recreations of music from the time of the crusades, March 25, 2002

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Of the "Music of the Crusades" collected on this very interesting album, several actually deal with the Crusades. I am always on the look out for interesting bits of music and film that can be used in history classes to bring the period alive for students and this certainly qualifies. This album contains examples of different types of songs, sung mostly in French and Latin. The lyrics alone are fascinating ("The French are degenerate if they refuse to support God, for I have warned them") and one song, "Ja nus hons pris," is attributed to Richard the Lion-Heart. Teachers covering the Middle Ages can certainly find a song or two to share with their students that will give them a sense of the times.

The liner notes by James Tyler explain that of the sixty-odd manuscripts surviving of troubadour and trouvere poetry, only a small number contain musical notion. Similar to the notation of Gregorian chant, these early notations give the performer a series of pitches to be sung without any indication of specific rhythmic values. Consequently, modern musical theories are used to develop these songs, taking into account the instruments of the period (lute, bells, harp, tabor, etc.) that we know existed from contemporary pictorial and literary evidence. So, I have to think that music students will find this album of interest as well. Performed by the Early Music Consort of London, I can certainly appreciate the effort made to achieve authenticity. Of course, we can never know how accurate these recreations are, but I certainly do not consider that a problem. I have been listening to several similar albums of music from this period, and this is the best I have heard so far.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time machine, February 15, 2003

By	Margaret M. Duffy (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This CD (a reissue of an LP dating from the 1970s) brings the Crusades and its people to life. There are recruiting songs, songs of loss and longing, songs of dedication. There is a beautiful song full of reverent wonder at the experience of being in the Holy Land. And there is the song purportedly written by Richard the Lionhearted while imprisioned by the Emperor. Too frequently we read history as if it were something enacted by people of two dimensions, somehow removed from our living emotions and complexities. This recording helps to restore some of the living emotions of those who went before us. They were as we are and as they are so shall we be to those who follow us.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comfort my heart, September 4, 2000

By	catherine guelph "catrina_g" (milano, italy) - See all my reviews

"I will sing to comfort my heart" is the title to track 5. These songs do comfort my heart. In the midst of the despair of their times, these songs from the 13th century touch me. They document the emotions, aspirations and fears of the people in another time, and yet, those feelings are present with me today. In a small way, I feel less isolated in my struggle knowing that others of a completely different time and place also have been so affected. A great debt is due to Ian Bent, Norman Clare, David Munrow, Jeremy Tilston and the performers of these pieces for the effort that was required to exhume them from the distant past and make them available today. For their work, I am thankful. The songs provide accounts of how individuals experienced the Crusade, both at home and on the battlefield. Tracks 1 through 6 combine to tell a story. PAX IN NOMIE DOMINI! is the battle cry to assemble the troops for the conquest. It's not just a job, nor simply an adventure, it is an holy obligation. In PARTI DE MAL, an idividual soldier accepts the call, and his conviction is bolstered in CHEVALIER, MULT ESTES GUARIZ "Let us go and conquer Moses on Mount Sinai: let us not leave him any longer in the hands of the Saracens". The realities of battle are experienced on an individual level in CHANTERAI POR MON CORAGE. This section finds its end in a sombre dirge DANSE REAL. Not all the songs concern themselves with wars in foreign lands. The anguish of unrequited love is the subject of JE NE PUIS. Even if you never read the lyrics, this music is enjoyable. The melancholy of the verse is echoed in the melodies, but these are not sad tunes as much as they are reflective. They offer me a bit of space in a busy life to contemplate on the events of the day. If you are interested in European Music of the 13th century, or you enjoy peaceful music played well, this CD will be interesting to you.