Songs of Beasts —
Ensemble Dragma
Fantastic Creatures in Medieval Song
[17.11.2020]
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Ramée 1901
2020
Ensemble Dragma,
Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett, Jane Achtman, Marc Lewon
1. Una panthera in compagnia de Marte [5:11] Ciconia
2. Ung lion say [3:05]
3. Un pellegrin uccel gentil e bello [4:56] Paolo da Firenze
4. Un bel sparver [2:57] Jacopo da Bologna
5. Selvaggia fera [2:21] Landini
6. I cani sono fuora per le mosse [2:30] Ciconia
7. Phiton, phiton [6:26] Magister Franciscus
8. Or sus vous dormés trop [3:21]
9. Aquila altera [2:56]
10. Fenice fu' e vissi [2:02] Jacopo da Bologna
11. Nel meço a sey paon [1:50] Giovanni da Cascia
12. Une vipere en cuer [6:11] Machaut
13. L'aspido sordo [2:59] Donato da Firenze
14. En seumeillant m'avint une vision [2:37] Trebor
15. Deh tristo mi topinello [2:45]
[17.11.2020]
medieval.org Remarks
http://www.medieval.org/emfaq/cds/remarks.html
5 December 2020
Todd M. McComb
———
Before I turn to another Josquin release, I want to note the recent
Song of Beasts by
Ensemble Dragma. This is "another" enjoyable anthology spanning the
c.1400 era of secular songs, i.e. around the Ars Subtilior, but
including both some earlier & (maybe) later music. In that sense, I
rarely know how to react to these releases, in the sense that the
program includes a mix of various greatest hits & some lesser known
material — in this case, oriented toward more virtuosic items in
parallel with its invocation (or imitation) of various animals. The
virtuosity is fitting here, as I'd already featured Marc Lewon on lute
in various (mostly somewhat later) repertory, and he's one of the best
today. Vocalist Agnieszka Budzinska-Bennett has also appeared on
various programs (e.g. relatively recently on
Con voce quasi humana),
and is one of a new generation of vocalists who likewise continue to
develop an idiomatic medieval style. (The other member of the trio,
Jane Achtman, also appears on many albums to good effect, although is
usually less specifically noticeable.)
Thus, this is a new generation
of virtuosic & idiomatic medieval performance: That performance
practice continues to improve is one of the basic facts of the medieval
discography, and particularly in this Ars Subtilior-esque repertory
(& Ars Nova in general), such performance practice is becoming
quite refined (particularly versus a couple of decades ago, when it was
still embryonic).... Then as far as evaluating these albums, I'm kind
of left with the program, and what I want to hear for a program: This
is a part where I struggle here sometimes, including to learn about new
items (& I've surely groused about this too much already...)
— especially anthologies, because if an album appears with a
composer, it can be much easier to pick out of a long & largely
undifferentiated list — but also to choose "better" programs
among what is really a juggling of dozens of similar songs.
And I'm not
sure how useful my remarks in that area are getting to be — i.e.
when there isn't a larger piece dominating a program — as I've
habituated over the years to evaluating albums as a whole. (This is of
course how the industry has been oriented in general....)
I still tend
to listen to an album-length program when I'm in the mood, rather than
individual songs, but constructing a program from the latter becomes
increasingly practical in the world of digital downloads. So should I
be reviewing individual tracks? I guess I feel as though I've spent so
much time NOT doing that, that it'd be awkward to start. (Maybe it's
too late?) But I do want to think about how to make these reviews more
worthwhile. Anyway, all that said, Song of Beasts is
fairly "typical" in that it presents an advance in technique, and does
so with an increasingly idiomatic feel, but around well-known music,
where a new interpretation is of only incremental value & within an
arbitrary thematic program.... (And to be clear, I'm offering no real
criticism of that basic practical dynamic, but rather questioning how I
should respond...).
...
J. Heringman. JOSQUIN. Inviolata
[10.12.2020]