Renaissance

Ronn McFarlane - The Renaissance Lute (1994) {Dorian Recordings DOR-90186}
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© 1994 Dorian Recordings | DOR-90186
Classical / Renaissance / Lute

When first conceiving this recording, I imagined myself as a first time listener to the lute. I have tried to bring together a collection of pieces that capture some of the variety and range of styles of the Renaissance lute. The lute was the favorite solo instrument of the Renaissance, valued for its portability and its expressiveness. The lute's shadings of dynamics and tone color were literally at the tip of one's fingers I hope that these varying colors and textures of sound will help communicate the spirit and character of these pieces more clearly, as well as keeping the ear refreshed. For any variety of sounds will be meaningless unless tied to the emotional or structural content of the music

Esoteric Recordings America is pleased to announce the release of a newly re-mastered and expanded clamshell box edition of the classic album, Turn of the Cards by Renaissance. Released in 1974, the album was an artistic triumph and heralded the band’s commercial breakthrough in the United States.
Featuring highly gifted vocalist Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford (acoustic guitars), John Tout (keyboards, vocals), Jon Camp (bass, vocals) and Terry Sullivan (drums, percussion), Turn of the Cards was recorded in March 1974 at De Lane Lea studios in Wembley, North London and featured the band incorporating symphonic orchestral arrangements into their material extensively on classic pieces such as ‘Running Hard’, ‘Things I Don’t Understand’ and ‘Mother Russia’…

Tot ver in de achttiende eeuw was de luit hét instrument van de Europese adel. De beste renaissance- en barokcomponisten schreven talloze werken voor het instrument. Een van de beste luitisten van dit moment, Christopher Wilson, maakte een prachtige keuze uit het enorme luitrepertoire uit de Franse renaissance. Verfijnd, rustgevend en sfeervol.

Here's a wonderful live set from the current incarnation of Renaissance, that lovely '70s prog band who so successfully merged classical with symphonic rock and medieval themes. Recorded at The Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania on September 23rd, 2011, the band thrilled the audience with a performance of both their classic albums, Turn of the Cards and Sheherazade and Other Stories in their entirety. Joining the 'classic line-up' members Annie Haslam and Michael Dunford are keyboard players Rave Cesar & Jason Hart, bassist David Keyes, and drummer Frank Pagano. If you got a chance to see Renaissance on either the 2011 tour or previously in 2009, you know that this line-up is red hot and does their vintage material justice.

The 'tablature of Jan of Lublin', as this significant collection is commonly known, belonged to the monastery of Canons Regular in the Polish city of Krasìnik near Lublin, and was bound in 1540. The owner and primary scribe was this Jan, or Johannes, of whom very little is known or can be surmised, but the contents of his book are a treasure trove of compositions and musical instruction illustrating what keyboardists of the region in the 16th century would have learned and played, including counterpoint, composition, organ-tuning, liturgical music and — perhaps richest of all — intabulations (arrangements) for keyboard of polyphonic vocal music from across Europe and original compositions for keyboard including 'preambula' (improvisatory preludes) and dances under the generic title 'corea' or with more specific names, several of them Polish.

Esoteric Recordings is pleased to announce the release of a newly re-mastered and expanded 3CD clamshell box edition of the classic live album, “Live at Carnegie Hall” by RENAISSANCE. Released in 1976, the double album documented a series of sold-out concerts at the Carnegie Hall in New York City staged in June 1975, which saw highly gifted vocalist Annie Haslam, Michael Dunford (acoustic and electric guitars), John Tout (keyboards, vocals), Jon Camp (bass, acoustic & electric guitars, vocals) and Terry Sullivan (drums, percussion) joined by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Regarded as one of the finest live albums of the era, the album featured such classic tracks as ‘Ocean Gypsy’, ‘Carpet of the Sun’, ‘Mother Russia’, ‘Can You Understand’, ‘Song of Scheherezade’ and ‘Ashes Are Burning’ and is regarded among the finest works by Renaissance.

The Spirit of the Renaissance - Ensemble Weser-Renaissance Bremen, Manfred Cordes (1995) {CPO 999-294-2}
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© 1995 CPO | 999-294-2
Classical / Early Music / Renaissance

As a fanatic of early music, I was overjoyed when I discovered this recording, having known Weser-Renaissance from their performances of Schutz and other earlier composers. To jump right in, the instrumental tracks are quite powerful. In contrast to many other early music discs I've heard, this one exclusively uses what 16th-century musicians would consider 'high' (loud) instruments…sounds to me like shawms, which would have been used for outdoor performances. Track after track of these can become strident at times, but true to the period.

Esoteric Antenna is pleased to announce the release of 50th Anniversary: Ashes Are Burning - An Anthology Live in Concert. To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the formation of Renaissance, vocalist Annie Haslam and band performed a series of concerts with an orchestra in the USA in October 2019 featuring a set list which included songs which had never been orchestrated or performed with an orchestra before. The most memorable concert took place at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA on 12th October 2019. This sold-out concert saw the band perform a set which included such classics as Carpet Of The Sun, Ocean Gypsy, Running Hard, Day Of The Dreamer and A Song For All Seasons and also saw a special guest appearance by Renaissance founder Jim McCarty who performed on the song Island and the epic closing piece Ashes Are Burning. It was a truly magical evening.

Vihuela Music Of The Spanish Renaissance - Christopher Wilson (1990) {Virgin Classics}
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© 1990 Virgin Classics | 0777 7595962 8
Classical / Renaissance

The vihuela is not a viol, it is a sort of lute. Vihuela and lute coexisted in Spain but the composers wrote only for the former. The works played in this recording were mainly published between 1535 and 1554; Daza's book (1576) and a collection of other authors (1593) mark the end of the era of the vihuela. Then the instrument lent its shape to the guitar, as you can infer from the cover of the CD.

This CD is a most satisfying listening experience, despite a few shortcomings in the packaging. Released under the auspices of Annie Haslam at a time when Renaissance had splintered in several different directions (with even Jane Relf reportedly getting ready to start using the group name again), it's assembled from what appear to be several live performances – the notes by Haslam would lead one to believe that these date from the late '70s, and the lineup of Haslam, Michael Dunford, John Tout, Jon Camp, and Terry Sullivan. But as there are no dates or actual credits, that's impossible to say with 100-percent certainty – what is true beyond doubt is that the sound is excellent (almost too good for a '70s-vintage concert recording) and the performances are superb from beginning to end; not only is the band tight and loud, but Haslam is in even better shape vocally than the rest of them are instrumentally.