The Geese Book is the
popular name for a two-volume collection
of pre-Lutheran German church music.
The name is taken from an illumination
for the Feast of the Ascension showing
a choir of geese being conducted by
a wolf dressed as a cantor. The ostensible
explanation is that this was a reminder
to the young boys singing in the choir
of their behavior while they were performing
the introit. Beyond that, the name of
the book is meaningless save that it
serves as a handle for one of the most
important documents of German liturgical
music in the pre-Lutheran period. This
liturgy was independently developed
over the course of several centuries
with additions on important feast days,
and these books contain the most mature
form of the completed liturgy. This
disc presents selected works from the
Geese Book along with contemporary organ
compositions from Nuremburg and is intended
to give a firm impression of the service
as it would have existed between 1424
and 1524.
The choir is not quite
period, as it contains women to bolster
the treble section that would originally
have been performed exclusively by boys.
There are children’s voices used as
well however, and the blending produces
a very nice sound. From a purely musical
standpoint, this is probably a better
sounding performance than it would have
been to produce things as accurately
as possible. Otherwise the recording
is very faithful to the notations and
our understanding of the standard performance
practices that would have been employed.
As a CD for listening,
this is a disc much like many others
on the market. The music is timeless
and beautiful. The performances are
quite good, and there are several selections
from unfamiliar masses that those interested
in early music should enjoy. The organ
pieces interspersed do a nice job of
changing the pace of the plainchant,
even though strictly speaking they are
not a part of the actual titular collection.
As a historical document
this is perhaps less good, as the addition
of mature female voices to the choir
does change the timbre somewhat, and
also because this contains only selected
pieces rather than the entire liturgy.
Even so, there are several works here
that have never previously been recorded.
Thus, although the recording is not
perfect, it is probably at least worthy
of interest.
Patrick Gary
Schola Hungarica/László Dobszay,
Janka Szendrei, directors 
