My first impressions in restoring this collection was that I had somehow been locked in the lobby of a Medieval Times amusement park, and I had no way out. Quite fortunately for me, this was a temporary issue - in fact, it lasted only about 3 minutes, because the first track on the recording only lasts about 3 minutes. There’s nothing wrong with the first track, but if you think you might be allergic to music that makes people dance like they are in a Shakespeare play - as if ANYONE knows what it’s like to dance in “Twelfth Night”. (Let’s face it, we’re all just guessing, it’s just that some guesses, like some dancers are just MUCH better than others.)
But ZOUNDS! be not worried, fair listener - for this collection features not only the joyous sounds of the peasants making merry around the May Pole! This collection is actually a superlative and well executed concert, conceived by the indefatigable Denis Stevens. So there’s not just the swirling flute and the drumming. Stevens has concocted what he calls “An Entertainment”. And an entertainment it is.
While it might not entirely be digestible in one setting - with 73 tracks it certainly would be like eating an entire box of cookies - but it was originally split over 3 LPs, with approximately 25 tracks on each LP, that gives you about 35-40 minutes of a diverse collection of music written in England for the dance, during the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Stevens assembled the best of England’s “early music” performers for this collection and his very clever idea is to vary up the music, so you very much DO NOT feel like you are trapped at a bad Renaissance faire. The Canzona Ensemble takes the moments driven by the wind instruments like the flutes and bagpipes, Harold Lester performs harpsichord interludes which remind us of his considerable talent, The Jaye Consort brings us delightful string-driven interludes, including a wild hurdy-gurdy solo and even a bagpipe moment (not strings, but I guess someone had to add a bagpipe).
The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble adds generally pithy commentary - their tracks are short and will leave you wanting a bit more. And the Accademia Monteverdiana appears as a large string orchestra and in trio form.
Highly, highly recommended to all!
