The Consort of St. Sepulchre

The Consort of St. Sepulchre
Medieval and Renaissance Music
The Consort of St. Sepulchre
EMI (Ireland) IEMC 6005 [LP, stereo]

Contents:

  1. Woe worth the tyme
  2. Paduana; Galliard
  3. Hey trolly, lolly lo
  4. Angelus ad virginem
  5. Ohne fels
  6. Je fille quant Dieu me donne de quoy
  7. Kalenda Maya
  8. Pasa el agua; Tourdion

    9. ---
  9. Belle tenes moy/La triocotee
  10. Ductia
  11. La tricotea
  12. Adew adew my hartis lust
  13. La quinte estampie reale
  14. Helas madame
  15. L'homme arme
  16. Springtanz
  17. Calabaza

Performers: The Consort of St. Sepulchre [Michael Milne (singer), Lucienne O'Kelly (singer), Peter Sweeney (singer), Vanessa Sweeney (singer), Honor Carmody (recorder, krummhorn, tenor viol), David Carmody (cornetto, recorders, percussion), Barra Boydell (recorders, krummhorn, curtal, rebec, treble viol, and research), Jennifer Robinson (recorders), Andrew Robinson (recorder, bass viol, lute, cittern, percussion, and arrangements), David Milne (recorders, krummhorn, percussion)]; produced by Donal Lunny; Engineer, Pat Morley

Playing time: 47'

Recording site and date: Recorded at Aisling Studios, Dublin (date not specified); release date: 1975

Cover photographs and artwork: The front sleeve has a portrait of a group of musicians and period instruments (some held, some amassed on floor) in a library setting which fits a caption on the back sleeve: "The Consort of St. Sepulchre photographed by Tom Collins in Marsh's Library -- the Library of St. Sepulchre, Dublin." The back sleeve has individual photographs of the group members, set against a background of close-up photographs of some of the instruments. Sleeve design is by Charles O'Neill; photography by Tom Collins.

Comments: One attractive feature of this recording is the hearty quality of the voices, rather different from a conventional "early music" technique; this is not to disparage the latter technique, to which I am accustomed from many recordings, only to say that this interpretation offers an interesting change of pace. The program mixes some medieval repertory, including a delightful rendition of the 14th-century English Angelus ad virginem, with Spanish favorites from around 1500 like Pasa el agua and La tricotea, and also English, Scottish, and French music from this general epoch. Noteworthy is Belles tenes moy/La trichotee, a piece transcribed by Howard Mayer Brown in a collection of French theatre music from the 15th and 16th centuries, with a polytextual framework resembling a medieval motet or a quodlibet of the kind popular around 1500.

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Margo Schulter