Sources:
El Escorial Real Monasterio de El Escorial b.1.2
El Escorial Real Monasterio de El Escorial T.j.1
Madrid Biblioteca Nacional 10069
Burgos Codex de las Huelgas
Santiago Biblioteca de la Catedral Codex Calixtinus
La Siete Canciones de Amor, ed. Vindel Madrid 1915 (Facsimile)
Performers:
New London Consort
Voice: Catherine Bott (soprano), Tessa Bonner (soprano), Olive
Simpson (soprano), Jacqueline Baron (soprano), Julia Gooding
(soprano), Ana-Maria Rincon (soprano), Jenevora Williams (mezzo-soprano),
Catherine King (mezzo-soprano), Kristine Szulik (alto), John Mark
Ainsley (tenor), Michael George (baritone), Stephen Charlesworth
(baritone), Robert Evans (baritone), Simon Grant (bass)
Instruments: Tom Finucane (lute, gittern), Paula Chateauneuf (lute,
gittern), Hannelore Devaere (harp), Rachel Hamilton (harp), Philip
Pickett (psaltery, symphony, recorder, tambourine), Andrew Cronshaw
(zither), Pavlo Beznosiuk (5-string fiddle), Giles Lewin (5-string
fiddle), Peter Syrus (5-string fiddle), Carla Mastandreas (5-string
fiddle), Mairi Campbell (5-string fiddle), Mark Levy (3-string
"8 shape" fiddle), Suzanna Pell (3-string "8
shape" fiddle), Sarah Groser (3-string "8 shape"
fiddle), Richard Boothby (3-string "8 shape" fiddle),
Mary Remnant / William Lyons (organistrum, recorder), David Roblou
(organ), Stephen Henderson (bells, nakers, thilat, tabor), Frank
Rixotti (tabor, tambourine)
Philip Pickett, dir.
Playing time: 53' 45" + 72' 35" = 126' 25"
Recording date: Temple Church, London, November 1989
Rel.: 1991, 2007
Reviewed in:
Diapason (#-p.): 557 - 81 (April 2008)
This CD set show all the variety of the music which was sung during the pilgrimage to Santiago. Pickett chose pieces from various manuscripts (MS): Las Huelgas, Escorial, Codex Calixtinus and Martim Codax MSs. Among them the Las Huelgas MS is the most used, and the Escorial MS proposes the longest pieces. Dynamic and rhythm are the main words coming to mind to characterize this set. Even the first track of the second CD (more than 15 minutes!), very repetitive, is here rendered with such a lively interpretation that it's never boring - try it on your trip from work to home, it's done for that. Catherine Bott in this same work contributes, as well as in the rest of the discs, to the energy and the pleasure that we feel. Pickett himself (introduction of track 3, 2nd disc) scatters the songs from his agility with his recorder. A very good set, oscillating sometimes between Munrow and Binkley for the ideas, but engaged and bringing to life the pilgrim. Highly recommandable.
Bruno CornecAs mentioned above, this set illustrates a wide range of Spanish music from the era, focusing especially on the Latin works.
The Las Huelgas Codex, preserved in Burgos (Spain) and presumably compiled by the Las Huelgas Cisterian convent between 1300 and 1325, is one of the most important medieval manuscripts. It contains a wide variety of Latin polyphonic styles (including such things as copies of works by Notre Dame composers like Perotin), along pieces of a more distinctive Spanish flavor. A good introductory recording to the variety of music in that manuscript:
Other recordings from this manuscript are mentioned in the above file.
The Codex Calixtinus is one of the earliest source for 2-voice polyphony, and was brought to Spain for the Pilgrimage. A major dedicated recording:
A closely related program by the present ensemble:
Other major programs by the present ensemble which derive from the same era:
Recordings on this theme in different styles:
A program devoted specifically to music of the Galician troubadour Martin Codax (fl.c.1230) as represented in the present citation by CD2 item #9:
Finally, another recording illustrating some of the variety of style in Spanish music of the period:
To purchasing information for this disc.
To FAQ references to this recording.
To FAQ CD index page.
Todd M. McComb