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What a Thrill to Find These Performances Re-Released!

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 02/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have them all on well-wornout vinyl. For me and for many listeners/performers of my generation, the rediscovery of Medieval and early Renaissance music began with Tom Binkley, Andrea von Ramm, and the Studio der frühen Musik. Yes, I'd heard even earlier ensembles - the New York pro Musica for instance, and David Munrow's various groups - but the Studio took this music past the stage of novelty and historical oddity to the level of musical authenticity, so that one could imagine the rulers and thinkers of Medieval Europe truly admiring it. No more apologies about the tuning of recalcitrant and primitive instruments! The vielle and the citole were real, were playable at a virtuosic level. The troubadours had singing techniques equal in sophistication to their verse forms! The music was as emotionally profound as the literature and the painting!



That was thirty-five and more years ago. Other ensembles have built upon Binkley's example and Binkley's teaching to produce even more polished and brilliant historically informed performances. The vitality and musicality of the Studio can still be heard, however. These CDs were the Birth of the Rebirth."