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World music CD DVD shop and Classic distribution
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ID: SIGCD035
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Kolektion: RenaissanceSignum Records is pleased to present the first of a series of three discs by Music Antiqua of London, featuring the music of three Italian cities.
In the late 15th century, Italy was divided between the independence of the mighty Venetian Republic and tiny Dukedoms such as Ferrara and Mantua. Music and literature were patronised by the ruling classes as statements of power and local identity. However the most revered European composers were from the north, and their musical style owed little to Italian culture.
In northern Italy an educated classicist, Isabella Marchioness of Mantua, devised the frottola where text was set to a simple melody following speech rhythms, and accompanied by 2 or 3 instruments. The frottola is a Cinderella of Renaissance song and has suffered in comparison with the English and Italian Madrigal and the French Chanson in the 2oth century revival of interest in Renaissance music.
On Fire and Ice we present frottole taken from a Venetian manuscript, compiled around 1520, to argue the case for a re-evaluation of this repertoire. The collection is notable for the quality of both the poetry and the music. The texts deal frequently with emotional extremes - the “fire and ice” of our title!
Modelled on the court bands of the 16th century, Musica Antiqua is the only group in Great Britain to play on specially commissioned matched sets of viols and recorders, copied from 16th century originals. This CD offers a rare opportunity to hear the very different sound these instruments make compared to their "modern" counterparts from the 17th and 18th centuries. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: SIGCD039
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Kolektion: Vocal CollectionSignum Records is delighted to announce the release of A Songbook for Isabella.
Isabella d’Este was brought up in the midst of an extremely active musical court. After her marriage in 1490 to Francesco Gonzaga Duke of Mantua she began to remodel the Duke's relatively modest musical establishment in imitation of that of her father, Hercule. She was herself a gifted musician and favoured above all the viol. Not only was the viol the favourite vehicle for aristocratic instrumental performance, but it was the ideal accompaniment to the voice.
Under Isabella’s patronage the tradition of improvised song accompanied by the singer on a lira da braccio developed into the frottola, shared between two, three or even four viols. In employing Italian composers, and herself performing their music, Isabella played a key role in the development of this new music, and of the consort of viole which developed alongside it.
This disc presents a selection of music from the circle of Isabella. The repertoire is centred around the Milliare Songbook - a hand written songbook compiled in 1502 by, or for, one Ludovico Milliare. This contains a wonderfully rich cross section of the vocal and instrumental repertoire loved by the d’Este family of Mantua. An attractive feature of the collection is the inclusion of sacred pieces, mostly non-liturgical and apparently intended for private devotional use.
The instruments used for this recording have been thoroughly researched by examining documented and iconographic evidence - for example contemporary paintings of the period. The custom-made viols are cannot be called "copies"; they are recreations using the best information and scholarship available. This CD offers a rare opportunity to hear the very different sound these instruments make - rather different from their more modern counterparts from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: SIGCD210
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Kolektion: Choral CollectionSubkolektion: Choir
In 1612, Prince Henry Frederick, son of James I and heir to the thrones of England and Scotland, died from a suspected bout of typhoid fever. His untimely death inspired a massive outpouring of artistic tributes in both verse and music, reflecting the mood of a nation mourning the loss of this popular future king at just 18 years of age.
'Dialogues of Sorrow' is the second disc from early music consort group Gallicantus, here joined by lutenist Elizabeth Kenny to perform familiar masterpieces and undiscovered treasures of the late English Renaissance, composed at the time of the young prince's death. The release follows the group's critically acclaimed debut recording, 'Hymns, Psalms and Lamentations' - music by Robert White.
Reviews for Gallicantus’s 2009 disc, Hymns, Psalms and Lamentations: Sacred Music by Robert White (SIGCD134)
“Taste the final amens in Exaudiat te, Dominus, where imitative exchanges spiral in ecstasy. Impassioned, exciting music.” The Times
“What an outstanding disc … never once is there a loss of clarity, a hint of muddiness.” The Gramophone |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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ID: SIGCD248
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Kolektion: Choral CollectionSubkolektion: Choir
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| 18.00 eur Temporarily out of stock |
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ID: SIGCD267
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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Kolektion: Choral CollectionSubkolektion: Choir
Following a string of five-star reviews for their previous discs of 20th-century French choral music (Poulenc’s Figure Humaine - SIGCD197) and Renaissance polyphony (Victoria’s Requiem Mass - SIGCD248), the professional chamber-choir Tenebrae go from strength to strength with this new recording of British partsongs and choral music - centered on Hubert Parry’s Songs of Farewell.
Composed towards the end of Parry’s life, the Songs of Farewell have taken on something of an epithetical interpretation; they are almost a musical summation of his compositional life, reflecting Parry’s love of English renaissance madrigals and partsongs as much as the influence on his work from German composers like Brahms - made more complicated as these works were composed as the country (and its music) fell out of favour at the start of the Great War. This disc also includes works by Tavener, Sullivan, Holst, Rodney Bennett, Howells, Elgar and Vaughan Williams. |
| 18.00 eur Buy |
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| eur Temporarily out of stock |
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ID: SIGCD516
CDs: 1
Type: CD
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| 18.00 eur Temporarily out of stock |
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