Just South of 1700

04 Leu chansonet'e vil.m4a

Chansons der Troubadours: Lieder und Spielmusik 
aus dem 12. Jahrhundert (sleeve)
Das Alte Werk, Telefunken-Decca, 6.41126, 1970
Made in Germany

A consequence of the habit of shopping for records at thrift stores is the creation of several subcategories inside the larger collection. These categories range from record labels such as Nonesuch to geographical locations (such as Mexico), topical recordings (laments), musical styles and eras. The latter category includes a large collection of music composed before 1700, a date midway through the baroque period that includes the likes of Vivaldi and Monteverdi but not Bach or Handel. A large part of this collection overlaps the Nonesuch collection since they house a large collection of early classical as well as medieval music. The earlier the better. 

Some of my categories I started collecting well into the last Century. In 2000 I made two mixed tapes I distributed among friends that officially established I was collecting early and Mexican music. One was called Just South of Texas, the other Just South of 1700. My first favorite composers of early music were Carlo Gesualdo and Josquin des Pres but as time goes on I realize more and more that the performing musicians are just as important as the composers. The older the music the more open the the compositions are for interpretation. The music of the troubadours (12th through 14th Centuries) barely has any musical notation. The performers of such music rely on written accounts of performances, previous recordings of the material, associations with similar, later, and better documented music, but most of all their personal creativity and interpretive abilities. As far as my humble musical expertise can evaluate these criteria, I rank the group Studio der Frühen Music among the best. While still not fully accepting the vocal interpretations (I have yet to hear a solo voice performance that I think is fantastic) the instrumental music is superb. It is ecstatic, it feels authentic and time-less at the same time. What I like too about it is the clear oriental influence of the music. The performers on Chansons der Troubadours (that I picked up recently) are Andrea von Ramm, Richard Levitt, Sterling Jones, Thomas Binkley, Nigel Rogers, Johannes Fink, Max Hecker, Robert Eliscu, and David Fellow. The song reproduced above was written by Guiraut de Borneilh from Limoges. The song was dedicated to three of his patrons and the 'e vil' of the title is purely coincidental with 'evil'.