Renaissance

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of a newly re-mastered and expanded edition of the classic 1972 album by Renaissance, "Prologue". Formed in 1969 by former Yardbirds members Jim McCarty and Keith Relf, Renaissance had by 1971 undergone a series of line-up changes and had evolved into a completely different band from the one that had recorded the albums "Renaissance" and "Illusion". By June 1972 Renaissance had settled into a line-up featuring the highly gifted vocalist Annie Haslam, John Tout (keyboards, vocals), Jon Camp (bass, vocals), Terry Sullivan (drums, percussion) and Rob Hendry (guitar, mandolin, vocals). The album "Prologue" was recorded in June and July 1972 and featured material written by Michael Dunford (a member of the group who had decided to eschew performing with the band to concentrate on song writing) and lyricist Betty Thatcher. Featuring such classic material as the album title track, 'Kiev', 'Spare Some Love' and the epic 'Rajah Kahn', "Prologue" was also notable for the presence of guest musician Francis Monkman (of Curved Air) who would play VCS 3 synthesiser on 'Rajah Khan'.

There are several very distinct periods of Renaissance history - of which the most exciting may well be the time surrounding their best album, A Song for All Seasons, It is the album - along with Azure d'Or and Novella - that almost broke them as pop stars and was filled with some of the most interesting (in their prog rock roots) songs they had yet written. This live album is from the tour accompanying the Song for All Seasons tour - and, as such, it could be argued that it is Renaissance at the peak of their powers. Even more so than Live at Carnegie Hall or the welcomed reunion concert, In the Land of the Rising Sun, Dreams & Omens captures Renaissance as one tight pop band. They almost play like a cross between the Alan Parsons Project and late-era ABBA…

The King's Singers - Fire-Water:The Spirit of Renaissance Spain
The King's Singers / The Harp Consort / Andrew Lawrence-King
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 312 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: RCA Red Seal # 09026 63519 2 | Country/Year: Europe 2000
Genre: Classical | Style: Renaissance, Vocal

…Einen treffenden Eindruck des Gesamten dieser CD vermittelt die "ensalada" "El fuego - das Feuer". Es muss ganz konkret gelöscht werden, aber es ist natürlich auch Metapher für allerlei. Und es zeigt diese Salatschüssel voll brennbaren Materials, mit wie viel Feuer die Beteiligten bei der Aufnahme zu Werke gingen. Ein wahrhaft kurzweilig Quodlibet.

Tallis Scholars are among the world's preeminent choral ensembles. Cultivating a distinctive vocal sound backed by impeccable scholarship, the group has helped raise the general level of interest in Renaissance choral music in Britain and beyond through a large catalog of recordings and numerous international tours.

Capella Antiqua München / Konrad Ruhland - Liebeslieder und Tänze der Renaissance
Capella Antiqua Munich / Konrad Ruhland - Love Songs and Dances of the Renaissance
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 212 MB | Full Artwork: 35 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Christophorus # CHE 0020-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1992, 1968
Genre: Classical | Style: Renaissance, Secular

Dr. Konrad Ruhland (19 February 1932 – 14 March 2010) was a German musicologist. He studied history, medieval Latin, theology, and liturgical history which helped him to gain extensive background knowledge for his musicological research. Under the Ruhland's leadership, a group of enthusiastic students in Munich formed the "Capella Antiqua" in 1956, one of the first groups to tackle the problems of reviving Early Baroque and Renaissance music using a scholarly approach…

David Munrow was a major British music historian who started The Early Music Consort of London with Christopher Hogwood. Monroe also published a number scholarly works on Early Music. One of Munrow's early passions was the study of early musical instruments which he collected until this his death, and are now part of his historical archives. Monroe began a project to make recordings of musical instruments from the Medieval and Renaissance Periods during 1973-74. Munrow was himself was a respected musician in own right on the instruments of the period, and played many of the included examples himself.

Digitally remastered and expanded edition of the classic 1973 album by Renaissance, Ashes Are Burning. Formed in 1969 by former Yardbirds members Jim McCarty and Keith Relf, by the 1971 Renaissance had undergone a series of line-up changes and had evolved into a completely different band from the one that had recorded the albums Renaissance and Illusion. By June 1972, Renaissance had signed to EMI's Sovereign label and had settled into a line-up featuring the highly gifted vocalist Annie Haslam. Featuring such classic material as 'Can You Understand', 'Carpet Of The Sun', 'At The Harbour' and the epic title track (featuring Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash on electric guitar). Released in October 1973, Ashes Are Burning would establish Renaissance as one of the finest symphonic progressive rock acts. This Esoteric Recordings edition has been remastered from the original Sovereign Records master tapes and adds a previously unreleased thirty minute live performance for BBC Radio One's In Concert programme in 1974 (recently discovered in the archives).