Chamber Music (Spanish 15Th-16Th Centuries) - Anchieta, J. /

Play mp3 audio sample for this CD By definition, no two compilations of "Music for the Spanish Court" are alike (see recordings from Jordi Savall, the Gothic Voices, etc.) and this one offers first rate performances of songs and instrumental pieces performed by one of the world's premier early music ensembles, The Dufay Collective. The repertoire comes from "the time of Ferdinand and Isabella. . . whose marriage in 1469 effectively united the disparate states of Spain." So there's quite a mix of vocal and instrumental songs and dances by both anonymous and named composers, Narváez and Isaac being the most familiar. Early music fans will recognize the various instruments--sackbut, viols, lute, vihuela, rebec, shawm, harpsichord, harp--and these are employed in all manner of combinations, sometimes with a voice or two, invariably to enchanting or at least thoroughly engaging effect. Vivien Ellis and John Potter provide the vocal support and they do it with impeccable musicianship a