Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Belgian medieval music ensemble Millenarium is of the scholarly sort, basing interpretations of these little dance pieces on close study of commentaries and visual representations from the period. Indeed, the delightful paintings of musicians (apparently from a manuscript of Boethius' De Arythmetica, de Musica), many of them female, in good color reproductions scattered all through the booklet, are a nice bonus for the buyer of this release. The good news is that this is by no means a "scholarly" album; it's quite entertaining. The group uses a collection of seven instruments, enough to vary the texture considerably (although they point out that a medieval jongleur might have been expected to master as many as 20). The overall sound is smooth, but by no means sparse. The players lay stress in the booklet essay on the idea that, even though it wasn't put into notation, there was a virtuoso tradition among the instrumentalists of medieval France. The chief exemplar of that virtuosity here is percussionist Thierry Gomar, whose extremely lively playing of a small hourglass drum, held sideways, may at times make you wonder whether your CD changer switched over to a jazz album by mistake. Several pieces begin with extensive percussion introductions that make musical sense, although one might have wished to hear a bit about the thinking behind this decision. The other major distinction of this album lies in Millenarium's effort to expand the repertory. The reason the same few pieces keep showing up on albums that include medieval instrumental music is that those pieces were the only ones scribes bothered to set down in musical notation; the tradition was otherwise transmitted orally. What Millenarium does (all the members of the group contribute) is to adapt vocal pieces, drawing in several cases on what's known of medieval dance in shaping the final result. This makes sense inasmuch as a wandering troubadour and harpist might very well have been one and the same person, but one wonders about the use of virelais, complex pieces that depended on a certain interaction of music and text, in this way. Such considerations aside, this album can be enjoyed by anyone curious about the instrumental music medieval courtiers might have heard, and it's ideal for, say, events held in a museum's medieval gallery. The sound, as usual with Ricercar, is superb.
© TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $16.65/month
Millenarium, Performer - Bernart De Ventadorn, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonymous, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Marcabru, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Cadenet, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Peirol, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Richard de Fournival, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Millenarium, Performer - Anonyme, Composer
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Album review
Belgian medieval music ensemble Millenarium is of the scholarly sort, basing interpretations of these little dance pieces on close study of commentaries and visual representations from the period. Indeed, the delightful paintings of musicians (apparently from a manuscript of Boethius' De Arythmetica, de Musica), many of them female, in good color reproductions scattered all through the booklet, are a nice bonus for the buyer of this release. The good news is that this is by no means a "scholarly" album; it's quite entertaining. The group uses a collection of seven instruments, enough to vary the texture considerably (although they point out that a medieval jongleur might have been expected to master as many as 20). The overall sound is smooth, but by no means sparse. The players lay stress in the booklet essay on the idea that, even though it wasn't put into notation, there was a virtuoso tradition among the instrumentalists of medieval France. The chief exemplar of that virtuosity here is percussionist Thierry Gomar, whose extremely lively playing of a small hourglass drum, held sideways, may at times make you wonder whether your CD changer switched over to a jazz album by mistake. Several pieces begin with extensive percussion introductions that make musical sense, although one might have wished to hear a bit about the thinking behind this decision. The other major distinction of this album lies in Millenarium's effort to expand the repertory. The reason the same few pieces keep showing up on albums that include medieval instrumental music is that those pieces were the only ones scribes bothered to set down in musical notation; the tradition was otherwise transmitted orally. What Millenarium does (all the members of the group contribute) is to adapt vocal pieces, drawing in several cases on what's known of medieval dance in shaping the final result. This makes sense inasmuch as a wandering troubadour and harpist might very well have been one and the same person, but one wonders about the use of virelais, complex pieces that depended on a certain interaction of music and text, in this way. Such considerations aside, this album can be enjoyed by anyone curious about the instrumental music medieval courtiers might have heard, and it's ideal for, say, events held in a museum's medieval gallery. The sound, as usual with Ricercar, is superb.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 19 track(s)
- Total length: 01:08:28
- Main artists: Millenarium
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Ricercar
- Genre: Classical
2008 Outhere 2008 Outhere
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.