Full Well She Sang, women’s music from the Middle Ages & Renaissance / The Toronto Consort

Recommendation

Full Well She Sang was originally released in 1993 and reissued in September of 2013 on the Canadian Marquis label. The Toronto Consort performs here with nine musicians, most of whom double as singers and instrumentalists, playing recorders, lutes, bowed string and percussion instruments. Subtitled Women's Music from the Middle Ages & Renaissance the program is arranged in four distinct sections; from the Middle Ages is In Cloister and At Court followed by two sections of Renaissance music, Courtly and Popular Traditions and Italian Virtuosity. Songs and pieces for small vocal ensembles make up much of the program, interspersed with instrumental interludes. It's a concert of ever changing textures and colors that keeps the seventy-three minute listening experience interesting and enjoyable.

Sourced from extant manuscripts, paintings, documents and inference, Full Well She Sang seeks to relate the changing place of women in music and in society. Religious homes for cloistered sisters of the Middle ages were centers for the teaching of music and other arts. We have examples here of music from anonymous sources as well as by Hildegard of Bingen, abbess of Rupertsberg abbey from 1147 until 1179. From outside the nunneries come songs about romantic love and other ways of the heart with verses that are clearly from a woman's perspective. The two sections of Renaissance music exhibit the rise of polyphony with pieces by Robert Johnson, Claudin de Sermisy and Jacob van Eyck. It was during this time that music gained an important place in a young girl's education, leading to the appearance in the late Renaissance of professional woman performers and composers, including Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini and Madalena Casulana, all of whom are represented on this recording.

The Toronto Consort was formed in 1972, during the pioneering years of early music performance practice, a movement which would quickly pervade concert halls and recording studios. Counting Paul O'Dette, Colin Tilney, Julianne Baird and The King's Noyse among its many musical collaborators, the Consort enjoys a highly respected reputation around the world. In Full Well She Sang, these splendid minstrels provide a very pleasant listening experience, and an interesting perspective on a time in music history many of us all too rarely explore.

Album Overview

This recording explores the lives and talents of women composers and singers from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the early Baroque. It features music by Hildegard of Bingen, Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini. The music was programmed by Alison Mackay, former member of the Toronto Consort.

The Toronto Consort is Canada's leading ensemble specializing in the music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Formed in 1972, the Consort has performed throughout Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Europe. It has frequently collaborated with other early music specialists, and has appeared with the Toronto Symphony, the Montreal Symphony and the North German Radio Orchestra.

Created by Alison Mackay, former member of the Toronto Consort, this stunning recording, Full Well She Sang, explores the lives and talents of women composers and singers from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early Baroque. Featuring music by Hildegard of Bingen, Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini.

Source: Marquis Classics

Toronto Consort

The Toronto Consort Since its founding in 1972, the Toronto Consort has become internationally recognized for its excellence in the performance of medieval, renaissance and early baroque music. Some of Canada’s leading early music specialists have come together to form the Toronto Consort whose members include both singers and instrumentalists (lute, recorder, guitar, flute, early keyboards and percussion). http://www.torontoconsort.org

 

 

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