Music from the Middle Ages

Le Jeu de Robin et Marion (Naxos 8.557337, rec 2003/4, 74') is not exactly the first 'opera', of course, but it provides a convenient marketing ploy. The best word is perhaps the original, jeu. Thomas Binkley's description on his 1987 recording (Focus) was a 'pastourelle play', which works reasonably well if one bears in mind that it is a dramatization of that genre. There is plenty of interest here, for Adam was not only no mean melodist but a considerable polyphonist, and it is of singular value to have so much of is work collected together. I thoroughly dislike the very arch introductory 'scene', and find the subsequent bilingual repetition of spoken texts, also very mannered, to be a significant distraction; one longs for the music to return. But the problems of making such a jeu presentable and comprehensible for a modern audience are, admittedly, not easily solved. As for the performances, they are smooth, often rather beautiful, but generally something less than involving; for that the palm goes to Micrologus on Zig-Zag Térritoires.

The Ensemble In Cortezia's disc Vox nostra resonet (INCOR 2, issued 2006, 66') is a well-planned anthology of pieces relating to the Compostela pilgrimage route, taken principally from the Codex Calixtinus, the Llibre Vermell and the Cantigas de Santa Maria. Pascale Costantini's warm yet incisive voice is absolutely essential to the character of the performances. This is particularly clear in the Cantigas (no.26, Non e gran cousa se sabe, no.175, Por dereito ten a Virgen and no.218, Razon an de seeren), which absolutely depend on text, and her very French 'r' merely adds a touch of cosmopolitanism to the proceedings. However, the subtlety of the instrumental contributions is also of paramount importance, always working with the voice rather than competing with it. The instrumentalists anyway have the opportunity to prove their worth independently in the improvisations of the Danse Cléricale and the suite Karsilamas/Touchia. In addition, Denis Zaidman's vocal contribution, somewhat more folk-like in approach, provides a very good, if occasionally distant-sounding, foil for this milk and honey. Performances are not revolutionary, and neither are they overloaded with orchestration; rather, this is a very impressive disc interestingly built around its theme. My only complaint is that the lack of English and German translations may well prevent the circulation it deserves.

Music from El Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (Et'cetera KTC 1286, rec 2005, 49') is also the subject of a fascinating and exciting disc by the Cobla La Principal d'Amsterdam (the only cobla outside Catalonia) and the Egidius Kwartet. A cobla includes such instruments as tenoras and tibles (descendants of the shawm), the flabiol (a kind of flageolet, played one-handed while the other plays the tamborí), trumpets, trombone, tenor tubas and a three-string double bass. Jan Nuchelmans says in his insert notes 'It is tempting to regard the dances in the Llibre Vermell as precursors of the sardana, the Catalan folk dance, that is accompanied by a cobla, but there is scarcely any proof for such an assumption . . .' Nevertheless, it is precisely such an idea that lies behind the imaginative conception of this programme; as befits such a collaborative effort, there is more going on here than performance, or even arrangement (though arrangements are of course credited, to Oliver Boekhoorn and David Dramm). The cobla's interspersed rampages in Stella splendens, the 'wrong note' fantasy for Splendens ceptigera, or the witty jazz metamorphosis of Polorum regina demonstrate this very clearly. Many of the pieces are subjected to less intrusive treatments, however, and it is striking just how well the sounds of the cobla's instrumentarium work with the four singers of Egidius in this repertory. (The subtle canonic lines of Laudemus virginem provide perhaps the best example.) There is only one miscalculation, I think, and that is the recited text over Mariam matrem. Apart from that, this is 'crossover' at its best: all elements within it are creative, and the music is enriched by it, given another dimension, rather than simply used.

Ensemble Nu:n's disc for Raumklang entitled...