The Whole Music Experience

Anonymous 4 Secret Voices Chant & Polyphony from the Las Huelgas Codex Harmonia Mundi I’m pleased to receive a new recording by the all-woman vocal ensemble Anonymous 4.   While I’m not a Christian, I enjoy Christian music from medieval and renaissance eras.   I find the polyphony and Gregorian chants relaxing, as do many music fans.   In fact, there is a craze out there for this type of music that goes underground at times only to resurface later.  Many of the fans of early sacred music aren’t religious, but looking for peaceful and contemplative music. I lose track of the number of albums recorded by Anonymous 4, but each album features provocative music programs.   We are usually treated to music sung by ancient women or composed by women as in the case of Hildegard von Bingen, which Anonymous 4 covered.   However, on the latest recording, Secret Voices , we are privy to medieval music from the cloisters of Las Huelgas, in Cas...

Trio Mediaeval A Worcester Ladymass ECM New Series The first time I listened to a Trio Medieval recording ( Stella Maris ), I ended up with a strange dog in my apartment. As soon as I slipped the disk and turned up the volume, I heard a crashing sound on my front door. When I opened the door, a large Alaskan dog entered my small apartment. Fortunately, the dog seemed mesmerized by the polyphonic vocals coming out of the speakers and stayed calm until its human companion showed up to retrieve him. The reason why I’m sharing this dog and music tale is because I too found Trio Mediaeval interpretation of sacred medieval chants mesmerizing. The three Nordic women voices (Ana Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Torrun Østrem Ossum), fit together so well, that we can only call the overall effect alchemical. Returning from a four year hiatus (the trio’s last release was Folk Songs on ECM New Series in 2007) this time around the trio interprets and performs the Ladymass of Worces...