Renaissance

The Spirit of the Renaissance - Ensemble Weser-Renaissance Bremen, Manfred Cordes (1995) {CPO 999-294-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 314 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 146 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 36 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 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.

Symphonic Rock Recordings is delighted to announce the release of a new 2 CD and DVD live album by Renaissance, “A Symphonic Journey”. This wonderful recording captures in sound and vision a very special concert staged at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside PA, USA on 27th October 2017. Renaissance perform an extensive set of classic material with the Renaissance Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble especially formed for a series of American concerts.

Songs for a Wise King - Cantigas de Santa Maria, Vol. I - The Renaissance Players (1996) {Walsingham Classics WAL8007-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 294 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 145 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 146 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1996 Walsingham Classics | WAL 8007-2
Classical / Medieval / Early Music / 13th Century / Spanish

In 13th century Spain, seven hundred years before anyone thought of using the term 'world music', a remarkable king named Alfonso the Wise was creating it. Alfonso X, King of Castile and Leon, filled his courts with the finest poets, musicians, artists and scientists he could find, from all three of the Iberian peninsula's great religions. Christian, Jews and Muslims worked side by side, creating a body of work that included groundbreaking scientific and astronomic treatises, translations of epic poems and scriptures from as far away as India—and some of the earliest and most sophisticated blends of European and Middle Eastern/Arabic music. The greatest of these was the enormous collection of songs in praise of the Virgin Mary now called Cantigas de Santa Maria.