Search - Droardus Trecensis, Michael Praetorius, Alfonso X (el Sabio) :: Sinners & Saints - The Ultimate Medieval and Renaissance Music Collection

Spirited and earthy!

Brianna Neal | USA | 11/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't know if this is the "ultimate" collection of medieval and Renaissance music, but it's certainly a darn good one, with more depth and spunk than most I've heard. The wide variety of selections, ranging from martial to spiritual and courtly to folksy, were drawn from four prior releases of Philip Pickett and the New London Consort: "The Feast of Fools", "Dances from Terpsichore", "Llibre Vermell" and "The Pilgrimage to Santiago". The CD insert suggests that "the sinners and saints that exist in everyone" will be drawn to this recording. "What you're listening to is not the domain of museums, but the music of the people, born of faith and the love of song and dance." And indeed, Philip Pickett and the New London Consort bring this music undeniably to life. Their sound is rich, full and quite winning. It is unfortunate that said insert, while containing texts and translations for all the songs, is rather lacking in information about the performers and instruments, but all in all, there seems to be a full complement of male and female singers, recorders, reeds, bowed and plucked strings, a hurdy-gurdy, drums, tamborine, and even an organ. If you enjoy this CD, you'll also like "The Little Barley-Corne: Winter Revels from the Renaissance" and "The Way of the Pilgrim: Medieval Songs of Travel" by the Toronto Consort, as well as "A la Via!: Street Music from the 13th to the 16th Centuries" by Ensemble Anonymus and Strada."

Best collection of Renaissance Dance Band Music!

Brianna Neal | 09/25/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After listening to other CDs which contain early music, I have to say this is my favorite. It contains an excellent range of pieces from the Renaissance and Medieval areas, and Philip Pickett and the New London Consort have outdone themselves with the performance of these works. It is highly listenable and makes for a terrific introduction to Renaissance dance band music. Overall, I feel that it is even better than Pickett's Terpsichore Dances CD and makes for an essential part of any classical CD collection."

Excellent renditions of lively 'old music'.

B. Marold | Bethlehem, PA United States | 11/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Sinners & Saints' by Philip Pickett and the New London Consort is just a bit too ambitious with their subtitle, 'The Ultimate Medieval and Renaissance Music Collection' as I find it hard to believe that 70 minutes can be the ultimate anything on 500 years of history. This is especially true since they seem to focus a lot more on the sinners than the saints, as there is virtually no liturgical music here. But, since there are so many good recordings of medieval liturgies, we aren't missing much.



This is really the sort of thing you would expect to hear from a travelling troupe of minstrals, but not from a solo artist, as practically every performance involves several instruments and voices.



Some tracks will sound especially familiar, as they are very similar to Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana', inspired by medieval texts.



Compared to many recordings of music from Shakespeare's time, this collection is superior and well worth the investment."