Thee Diane Bonjour

L assus' profane werken, vooral de Franse chansons en de Duitse liederen zijn vaak doordrongen van een aanstekelijke levensvreugde, met voor die tijd vanzelfsprekende, en doorgaans onschuldige, zij het soms expliciete allusies op de lichamelijke liefde. Ook de wijn vloeit op geregelde tijdstippen. Maar zelfs platvloerse en volkse teksten, waarvan het poetisch gehalte vaak bedenkelijk was, weet Lassus om te toveren tot muzikale pareltjes. Verfijnde poezie, zoals gedichten van Pierre de Ronsard, inspireerden hem uiteraard nog meer tot het schrijven van meesterlijke miniaturen, die de tand des tijds probleemloos hebben doorstaan. Zo slaagt hij er in Bonjour mon coeur, een bijzonder verfijnd liefdesgedicht van de Ronsard, muzikaal te vertalen in een al even betoverend equivalent.

The movement to record Renaissance music in ways that illustrate its context has mostly bypassed Orlande de Lassus up to now. This is partly because his vast output is hard to get a grip on. Lassus was arguably music's first international star, and he was capable of bringing to his employers (mostly the Duke of Bavaria, already something of a cultural crossroads in the late sixteenth century) music from all around the continent.

Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead is a live album consisting of audio and video recordings from the Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead concerts performed by surviving members of the Grateful Dead Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart, with Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti…

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, A Silver Mt. Zion (just one of its many names) came to life in 1999 as a project for Godspeed You! Black Emperor member Efrim Menuck in his attempt to learn to score music. The original idea was pushed aside, and the project would go on to become a group setting, and was more in touch with the idea of the organic growth and exploration of music than the heavily composed and arranged theoretical work of Godspeed. Inspired to record an album of the music that had been made, Menuck built up the first version of A Silver Mt. Zion, taking on violinist Sophie Trudeau and bassist Thierry Amar, both known as collaborators in the Godspeed family. The band made its live debut in 1999 and released its first album, He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…, on Constellation in 2000. Still known as A Silver Mt. Zion, the band expanded its membership in 2000 – adding cellist Beckie Foon, guitarist Ian Ilavsky, and violinist Jessica Moss – which led to the first of many name changes.