Two period-instrument masters, viola da gamba player Lisa Terry and harpsichordist Webb Wiggins, delve into suites by two composers, Sainte-Colombe and François Couperin on a rewarding new album. Their readings are fully alive, marked by rhythmic and melodic nuances.
A Hummable Viol: Suites by Couperin and Sainte-Colombe Read More »
For upcoming concerts, Trio Sefardi will perform traditional songs of the Sephardim, the descendants of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. They’ll also pay tribute to Flory Jagoda, a mentor who taught the ensemble songs in Ladino, the endangered language of Sephardic Jews.
Sephardic Music From Many Times and Places Read More »
Eurasia Consort’s new album, Music of Paradise, explores folk songs and dances from Tang Dynasty courts. It feels like an unbroken link to a past too often overlooked in the West. For this journey, the musicians immersed themselves in Chinese artwork and old manuscripts from the 7th through the 9th centuries.
Music from the Tang Dynasty Read More »
Volume 2 of Cut Circle’s complete Josquin cycle, gloriously sung, includes motets from the 1480s and the ‘smutty’ Missa L’ami baudichon. Director Jesse Rodin’s startling approach to Josquin moves away from that smooth Anglican-style choral sound. The five-voice ensemble makes a satisfying new argument for how this polyphony might have sounded.
Visceral Josquin from Cut Circle Read More »
This reassessment of musical culture — particularly religious music — in 15th-c. Bohemia tries to look beyond the nationalist agendas that have previously colored scholarly work on this topic. As a rare holdout for monophonic chant and an area undergoing theological reform in the late Middle Ages, the region provides rich topics for this collection of essays written through an updated lens.
Bohemian Myths, Bohemian Facts Read More »
