Search - New World Renaissance Band :: Live the Legend

Unusual and Diverse Collection

Laurence Bush | Orange County, CA USA | 03/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Outstanding, rare 1992 release of this quintet consisting of vihuela, harp, cello, recorders, fiddle, and viola. Fifteen selections from diverse sources. Amazing."

Break It Up!

Kevin L. Nenstiel | Kearney, Nebraska | 08/22/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This album starts off strong. The title group, lead by Owain Phyfe, plays Renaissance music, as you might expect, with a slight modern twist to the harmonies. They use period instruments and perform a repertoire of period songs, the newest from the 17th Century, the oldest so old the origins are lost to the mists of time. And though it's higher-pitched and less dense than modern pop music, it's eminently listenable.



The problem arises as the album goes on. Every song is played with largely the same instrumentation, focusing on the vihuela, harp, cello, recorders, fiddle, and viola, with the occasional drum thrown in for good measure. There also isn't a great deal of variation in tempo. By the time you're about halfway through the CD, you start to realize that it's the same song over and over again. The artists desperately need to break the album up with some variation in arrangement.



On his recent concert DVD "1000 Years of Popular Music," Richard Thompson attacks the old Italian dance tune "Si Ben Me Ca Bon Tempo" with such ferocity that you miss the fact that you only hear a single guitar and drum kit. NWRB would be well advised to take a lesson from Thompson. After all, in the Renaissance, every song existed only in the moment it was being played, and then was gone. In the age of recording, a song can be played one time and continue to exist for years; therefore a slate of songs needs to be varied and textured to bear up to repeated listening.



The individual songs on this CD are excellent. They bounce along with a sprightly insistence that insinuates itself into your brain and pushes the Repeat Button of your mind. For fans and true believers of "early music", this album would be a fine investment, just for the individual songs. But new listeners and dabblers may lose interest as the songs start to sound alike. If only the band were to break it up with some variation in arrangement, this CD and the music it keeps alive would have a much larger audience in the modern age."