Search - Johann Schop, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Johann Stobaus :: Wedding Motets

Fantastic music from the turn of the 16th to 17th centuries

Melanchthon | USA | 01/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection of wedding music played at weddings in Hanseatic cities is subdued and pleasant, reflecting the demands of ordinances that prohibited the flaunting display of wealth (always a danger in the wealth communities of the Hansa) in public, and the desire of middle class merchant families to promote their family honor through just such a display. This CD presents a number of selections with fairly simply counterpoint, including dances, and processionals, performed in the more subtle, less bombastic style of European early music ensembles. If you like this CD you may also like Weser Renaissance's recording of Stoltzer's Missa duplex per totum annum, which I really love. they are playing period instruments but they have them well under control: intonation of both singers and musicians is excellent and the balance between voices and instrument is also held in strong equilibrium Highly recommended."