When one desires to
take a trip through a musical time machine
and aurally set one’s self in a simpler
era, it is difficult to recreate with
any certainty music much more ancient,
or durable, than instrumental music
from the 14th and 15th
centuries. Recorder consorts were common
in Medieval and Renaissance courts,
and would perform pieces originally
set for vocalists as well as instrumental
works that could have been written for
any SATB quartet. These simple instruments
were generally used for small interior
settings, as the instrumentalists would
switch to a consort of louder instruments
(such as crumhorns) for less intimate
settings. It is indeed notable that
even King Henry VIII tried his hand
at composition for this type of ensemble,
thus revealing the high esteem in which
it was held in English courts. Thus
this recording brings the listener into
the inner sanctum of the height of refinement
of a bygone England.
The music is generally
representative of what made English
music of the era so innovative and distinctive.
While French and Italian music of that
time tended towards "perfect"
intervals for harmonies (open 4ths and
5ths), the English recognized the warmth
and color that triads bring to music,
and as a result this music does not
sound at all unfamiliar to the modern
ear. Indeed, this is the genesis of
modern harmonization. Also notable is
that the earliest form of purely instrumental
music extant is found here: the fantasia,
also called sometimes a "Fancy".
The best known of English Renaissance
composers are well represented; the
result is truly pleasing to the ear
and to the soul.
With few exceptions,
there is a great amount of homogeneity
in sound for these recordings. To the
modern listener, the most medieval accent
of these recordings will probably be
the timbre of the recorder. There is
no commonly used modern instrument that
sounds quite the same; it relates most
closely to the Irish tin-whistle, although
the sound is much warmer and richer.
On the other hand, the works themselves
will feel perhaps simple, but not strange.
After all, Baroque music, which is still
heard today, derives in great part directly
from this musical tradition. There are
a few (the fantasias and Baldwin’s 4
vocum) with an energetic rhythmic
complexity and great independence in
each part similar to vocal motets. Aside
from that, these works sound much like
Bach’s or Palestrina’s vocal quartets
or early portative organ works transcribed
for recorders.
As far as the sound
production, Inter Chorus Paradiscolarum
seemed to have some background static
that sounded akin to a faulty microphone
being used during the recording. Otherwise
the recording quality itself was excellent,
catching the wooden timbre of the instruments
very cleanly. It has to be considered
a rarity to find virtuoso players on
recorder in the modern world, but these
players are certainly competent and
capable of performing at a very high
level.
So should the listener
have an interest in exploring the earliest
of instrumental music, this would be
a nice place to start. The performances
are both relaxing and stimulating, and
it isn’t every recording that boasts
a King’s own composition. So, should
one wish to take a trip to Shakespearean
England, this album might be a fair
locale from which to start.
Patrick Gary