Yo m’enamorí d’un aire - Medieval Songs and Dances
Improvisation [7:35]
Mit ganzem herzen [2:46]
Yo me enamore de un aire [4:23]
Prendes i garde [1:55]
A la una yo naci [5:10]
Hodie christus natus est [1:55]
Temp gwell eo gwinn [3:16]
Alleluia laetatus sum [2:56]
Avrix mi galanica [2:57]
Por nos de dulta tirar [8:57]
Uri tsafon [4:24]
Ondas do mar de vigo [3:16]
Improvisation Tibet [4:29]
Virgo dei genetrix [3:24]
Domna pos vos [3:01]
Gaudeamus [3:28]
Basse danse appelee [2:46]
Laude novella [3:09]
A ni tsa me [2:49]
Reval’s Troubadours (Anna Lüssa Heller (percussion, recorder, kannel), Janno
Pokk (nyckelharpa, voice, percussion), Maarja Uus (recorder, lute, percussion),
Endrik Üskvärv (voice, percussion))
rec. 7-8 August 2010, Santa Eufemia de Cozollos, Olmos de Ojeda, Palencia,
Spain
Sung texts included.
EMEC E-090 [73:57] 
See also review
by Glyn Pursglove
Reval’s Troubadours, a group of four young musicians pictured within the
CD box, are new on the block. They were founded only in 2006 and are, according
to the blurb, Estonian and based in Tallinn although this disc is distributed
and was recorded in Spain. They “skilfully mix elements of jazz and rhythms
from different countries” with ancient melodies including plainchant.
Their mission statement is immediately affirmed in track 1. It’s an improvisation
using a vocalisation from Endrik Uksvarv and instruments such as the nyckelharpa
- the national instrument of Sweden. Add to these a kannel - a traditional
instrument from Estonia – and the usual recorders, lutes as well as exotica
like the djembe and tarbuka which are African drums.
For track 2 they take a keyboard piece by the 15th Century German
composer Conrad Paumann. This uses the melody ‘Mit ganzem erzen’ (With my
whole heart) and improvise instrumentally around it. The booklet notes state
that this is what was expected in the early medieval period and one can quite
believe it. Indeed every track has a strong improvisatory element. As most
of the pieces chosen are monophonic they allow plenty of room for manoeuvre.
The melody lines of ‘A la una yo naci’ and ‘Uri tsafon’ betray Sephardic hallmarks
- the music of the Spanish Jews based in the South of Spain. It’s good also
to hear the French 13th Century song ‘Prendes I garde’ in this
robust and earthy rendition and without its usual counterpoints ‘S’on me regarde’
and ‘He mi enfant’.
Another improvisation is around a plainsong melody, ‘Hodie Christus natus
est’ and, ‘Gaudeamus’. Each begins with an extemporising lute, ’Alleluia Laetatus
sum’ with the nycelharpa (I think). In each a voice soon enters with the plainchant
line. As a happy contrast in between these sober tracks we hear ‘Temp gwell
eo gwimm’ which is a drinking song with elaborate instrumental additions.
A few tracks later there is a very successful improvisation based around just
two bass notes in a Tibetan style and one on a Basse Danse melody given the
name ‘appelee’.
The ‘Cantigas di Santa Maria’ is an amazing collection gathered together and
copied with superb illuminations of instruments. This has proved quite an
inspiration to Reval’s Troubadours. It was in use in the mid-13th
Century Court of Alfonso the Wise of Castile - a very violent man as I recently
discovered whilst on holiday in the villages of that region. ‘Avrix mi galanica’,
from the Cantigas, is magically performed.
Martin Codax was a Portuguese composer of the 13th century. His
cycle of songs ‘Cantigas de amigo’ has been recorded often. ‘Ondas do mar
de Vigo’ comes from those songs. The young woman alone on the shore sings
“Waves of Vigo bay / have you seen my friend”? From the same period I especially
enjoyed this rendition of the Italian processional song ‘Laude novella’. Its
instrumental interludes use just a string instrument and a drum - the latter
playing a major part in almost every track.
The singers are both passionate and expressive with wide dynamic contrasts
and clear diction. The instrumental work is often virtuosic but always vital
and appropriate to the song. It creates a real sense of energy and of atmosphere.
It feels too like a live performance but there is little evidence of an audience.
But there is a down-side. The performers have been a little let down by the
thin booklet which has the original texts but with no English or any translations.
I cannot tell what most of the songs are about. An anonymous and mostly interesting
essay attempts to encapsulate the overall thrust of the CD.
Gary Higginson
The singers are both passionate and expressive with wide dynamic contrasts and clear diction.