Search - La Reverdie :: Legenda Aurea: Laudes des Saints au Trecento italien (Golden Legend - Lauds from 13th Century Italy)

In Praise of the Saints

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 10/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Legenda Aurea. Laudes des Saints au Trecento Italien. La Reverdie. Arcana A 304. Issued 1999, recorded in November 1997. Playing time approx. 70 minutes.



A few years prior to this release, the ladies (and gentlemen) of La Reverdie had devoted a whole CD to the "Laudi di Sancte Maria". This time round, they sing ten 14th century songs of praise to the saints, apostles and martyrs, performing them more or less as they would have been performed at a meeting of the Laudesi in Florence or other Northern Italian cities at the time. The pieces are taken from Ms 91 from the Biblioteca Communale e dell'Accademia Etrusca in Cortona and from Ms. Magliabechiano, BR 18, from Florence. The two halves of the program are divided by a five minute instrumental piece by Doron David Sherwin based on the song for Saint Vitus. The songs are comparatively simply structured, mostly with a number of stanzas separated by a repeated chorus sung in unison. Despite the delectable singing and playing (just listen to Livia Caffagni's recorder in "Benedicti e llaudati" or Doron David Sherwin's cornet in "Spiritu Sancto dolce amore"!), the music itself can be a little too simple and a little too repetitive. Perhaps that is why Arcana kept this recording back while publishing "La Nuit de Saint Nicholas", which was recorded later, first. However, La Reverdie have made the best of it, and if you are a collector of medieval music by (mainly) female ensembles, you will not want to miss this. As usual, the "packaging" is excellent, with a highly intellectual and informative 32-page booklet and a magnificently printed digipack; the engineering is also beyond reproach."

A review of this recording

Slobberer | Astoria, NY United States | 09/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You could write a whole treatise--quite a few actually--on the music featured on this fine disc from the early music ensemble La Reverdie. But, if you're interested in that, perhaps you should just read Blake Wilson's book Music and Merchants--the Laudesi Companies of Republican Florence (Oxford, 1992). The music here, religious songs of praise (laudes) from the 13th and 14th centuries, was written to accompany texts drawn from or inspired by one of the most famous and widely read (and heard) "books" of the Middle Ages--the Legenda Aurea (The Golden Legend). This was a collection of stories that told the complete history of the lives of the saints, and together with the Old and New Testaments comprised a kind of holy trilogy of Christian knowledge and teaching. Originating in Italy, the songs formed the repertoire of groups known as Laudesi, especially popular in Florence and reaching their peak at the beginning of the 15th century.



Since a fair amount is known from contemporary accounts about the instruments used and the configurations of singers, La Reverdie offers as close an idea as can be determined of the sound and performing style appropriate to these very charming and infectious songs. Besides their general optimistic mood (some are reminiscent of the Cantigas de Santa Maria), many of these songs have a seductive quality in the undulating rhythms and gently flowing melodies, with lots of stepwise motion and modal intervals. A good example is the song "Santa Agnese da Dio amata" (Saint Agnes loved by God), where a solo female voice alternates with sections for a trio of women, ideally accompanied by harp, rebec (a bowed stringed instrument), and occasionally a portative organ. The variety of melody and instrumental accompaniments is sufficient to keep our interest, even in the longer songs (the longest is 13 minutes!)--and these performers also know how to sing the vernacular texts with native sensibility. I highly recommend this disc--recorded with a fairly close-up sonic perspective--to all who want the sounds and sensual flavor of a particularly ingratiating and rarely heard repertoire. The performers are expert; the voices very pleasing.





--David Vernier

"

Rare Medieval Lauds

J. Burton | 05/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The ensemble La Reverdie performs lauds of the Saints from 14th century manuscripts in Cortona and Firenze. The medieval laud was monophonic & paraliturgical, usually with a rustic air about it.



The title of the recording, Legenda Aurea - The Golden Legend, is the name of a book about the saints that was very popular in medieval times

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