# Favorite Non-Vocal Recordings of Medieval/Renaissance Period



## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

I would like to learn about these periods. But I'm not too big into vocals. What recordings should I get? If there is a best of, I wouldn't mind that either.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

*BIS CD "La Spagna*", Atrium Musicae Madrid: a sure hit !









*John Dowland: Lute works*, especially Paul O´Dette, but others will do too. There´s a cheap complete set on Brilliant Classics with Jakob Lindberg also, licensed from the fine BIS label.





*The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book*, excerpts. There are many fine recordings.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

I bought these a few months ago and loved the sounds. Mainly late 16th and early 17th century instrumental music (on period instruments / modern copies). Samples are available at Amazon.

Entitled _Concerto Imperiale_










Entitle _Bellissimo Splendore, Early 17th Century Music at the Court of Brussels_










I bougth this collection last year. It contains vocal music.

Entitled _Reformation & Counter-Reformation _ (8 CDs)










Many more. But enough to begin with.


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## xuantu (Jul 23, 2009)

neoshredder said:


> I would like to learn about these periods...


Same here! But I think I've read somewhere that vocal music is more stressed than instrumental in this period; therefore we might miss out a lot of good stuff by ignoring the vocals.

I recommend these following discs from my collection, even though probably none of them presents authentic Medieval/Renaissance instrumental music, or at least not in an authentic way 








These days, one could easily find this music played on period keyboard instruments (e.g. the third recommendation made by joen_cph). Here Glenn Gould pays his homage to two masters from the Tudor England on modern piano! He clearly love this music very much, for there is little of the "mannerism" that pervades his Bach and Beethoven recordings. Byrd and Gibbons' contrapuntally rich pieces really play to his strengths. And to be fair, Gould's sense of style has always been very strong.












This was the first per-baroque disc I owned. It's a collection of songs by the Flemish composer Guillaume Dufay. Now don't get scared off by the word "songs". Half of them have already been transcribed into instrumental pieces, the other half sang by a solo countertenor voice accompanied by the same instrumental ensemble. According to a Gramophone review of this disc, such performing practices have once had their ways in central Europe, but are rather dated by today's standards and positively misleading. The reason why I recommend this disc however is simple: these tunes that Dufay has written are utterly delectable, hummable even, but they are so under-recorded. The playing of _Ensemble Unicorn_ isn't in any sense bad, either.





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This third disc features the music for early wind ensemble composed by two contemporaries of Monteverdi. Strictly speaking it's the music of early Baroque, but one of the main instruments here, the cornett, has also been popular in late Renaissance. It produces a trumpet-like sound with darker hues, rather unusual. The second item recommended by HarpsichordConcerto actually sounds quite similar to this one (from what I've heard on Amazon), if not more varied and colorful. I chose this 'blue' disc by _His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts_ here because sometimes I found myself hypnotized by its music (and the cover art too). If I concentrated enough, I could see the waterways and the skylines of Venice.




(live performance)

Lastly, I would like to post two vocal items, one from the German countertenor superstar Andreas Scholl, accompanied by Shield of Harmony, the other from Gothic Voices. These two may complement on the Dufay disc I mentioned earlier on its reflection of Medieval vocal music. The former is virtually a solo disc (with several instrumental "interludes" and a couple of duos) and legitimately so because the vocal writing of its music was largely monophonic, whereas the latter is an unaccompanied disc (except for some medieval harp solos) showcases the beauty of vocal polyphony. One of the Dufay songs, an instrumental piece on the naxos disc, is here fully restored to its vocal glory.
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## candi (Nov 15, 2014)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> Entitle _Bellissimo Splendore, Early 17th Century Music at the Court of Brussels_


i'm listening to this cd on youtube and it's nice. no vocals. The balleti is catchy. I know nothing of early music, except what I like. As the cover shows, lots of horn type music. LOTS.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

La Caccia are an outstanding ensemble, very polished but that' s not necessarily a weakness. I particularly like their contribution to this CD of Thomas Morley's consort music, partly because I'm specially interested in British music. I didn't enjoy the keyboard player Guy Penson's contribution though!









I haven't begun to explore their secular Obrecht CD yet, Obrecht's another composer I like, but seeing this thread may prompt me to do so soon.

I'm curious about very early instrumental music, and I've managed to find about half a dozen excellent recordings. Composers like Conrad Pauffman and Pierre Attaingnant and Arnolt Schlick. Performers like Tasto Solo, Carina Marti and Michel Gondko.


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

I recently heard a recording of *Norwegian Cornett & Sackbuts* (a group consisting of cornett, 5 sackbuts, percussion) and liked it very much. The album _The Beauty of Nothingness_ includes works of 16th-17th century composers.

Also, Giovanni Gabrieli's _Sonate e Canzoni_ played by *Concertino Palatino* (harmonia mundi) is very nice.


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