The sound of Renaissance and early Baroque instrumental music is often delicate, but this release from the Austrian Baroque Company comes accompanied by a quotation from Samuel Pepys: "We fell to dancing, and continued, only with intermission for a good supper, till two in the morning." Pepys goes on to describe music that sounds very much like what's heard on London Calling, and it is especially noteworthy that he refers to "country-dances" and also to a violin-theorbo combination suggesting a continuo group. That's one ...
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The sound of Renaissance and early Baroque instrumental music is often delicate, but this release from the Austrian Baroque Company comes accompanied by a quotation from Samuel Pepys: "We fell to dancing, and continued, only with intermission for a good supper, till two in the morning." Pepys goes on to describe music that sounds very much like what's heard on London Calling, and it is especially noteworthy that he refers to "country-dances" and also to a violin-theorbo combination suggesting a continuo group. That's one among several attractions here: the ABC, headed by the pair of Baroque violinist Amandine Beyer and recorder player Michael Oman, breaks down the line between Renaissance and Baroque, which was never all that useful for English music to begin with. Another draw is the unashamedly rhythmic quality of the music; one can imagine people dancing to this music as Pepys described. Further, the level of instrumental virtuosity is high. The dances are broken up with fantasias and variations,...
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