Search - English Anonymous, John Dowland, Giles Farnaby :: Johnny, Cock Thy Beaver: Popular Music-Making in 17th-Century England

Exhilerating!

gaios33 | Berkeley, CA | 07/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I thought it was excellent. Sure, it does lack the bawdy drinking songs, but it does include many very danceable tunes--played in a folksy, rough-edged style that unfortunately is lacking in many interpretations of this repertoire. The last set of tunes from Playford (track 25) is veritably indistinguishable from what you might hear from a modern British folk band, except less refined (tailored for modern ears). The lead fiddler calls out the changes between tunes, and the rest of the players contribute shouts of exhileration, foot-stomping, and hand-clapping. In this way, the Dufay Collective gives us a glimpse of the way this music might've been performed by "the common people" three centuries ago, by non-professional musicians and singers. Oh--and John Potter, the guest singer, is a delight! He obviously enjoys these songs as he interprets them with style and an ear for the unusual. You think you've heard early music? Not like this."

Very Revealing and Entertaining Collection

B. Marold | Bethlehem, PA United States | 01/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"'Johnny, cock thy Beaver' by The Dufay Collective is a combination of popular music from both the masses and the gentry with pretensions to musical sophistication. In other words, this is the stuff which made up the top 40 hit parade in the 17th century.



One thing which immediately strikes me is that there is nothing here which we hear from old English folk music performers. This leads me to believe that the contention that the folk music of today was the popular music of way back then is quite false.



This is NOT the sort of thing which got Fairport Convention or The Pentangle off the ground.



It is a bit light for the scholarly among us, but if your musical tastes are omniverous, this is a tasty bite."