Serenissima: Music from Renaissance Europe on Venetian Viols (2014)

performed by Rose Consort of Viols
composed by Anonymous, Anonymous, English, Anonymous, Italian, Antony Holborne, Augustine Bassano, Christopher Tye, Cipriano de Rore, Claude Le Jeune, Costanzo Festa, Heinrich Isaac, Ludwig Senfl, Orlande de Lassus, Osbert Parsley, Philip van Wilder, Pierre Sandrin

The tradition of Renaissance viol consort music can be difficult for the casual listener to get a handle on; the sound of the viols, wheezy and glassy when not played well, tires in large quantities, and the pieces mostly have the same texture and slow tempo. This release by Britain's Rose Consort of Viols is expressly dedicated to exploring the sound of Venetian instruments, in modern replicas, and indeed the rounded sound of these viols, all inspired by the single surviving example of a viol from Venice in the 16th ... Read More

The tradition of Renaissance viol consort music can be difficult for the casual listener to get a handle on; the sound of the viols, wheezy and glassy when not played well, tires in large quantities, and the pieces mostly have the same texture and slow tempo. This release by Britain's Rose Consort of Viols is expressly dedicated to exploring the sound of Venetian instruments, in modern replicas, and indeed the rounded sound of these viols, all inspired by the single surviving example of a viol from Venice in the 16th century, may well attract fans of this music. But the album may also be a strong choice for those who have struggled with viol consort music in the past. Much of what's most familiar in the viol repertory came from England, but the music was pan-European, and that's one key to understanding it. Viol music was an intellectual tradition, inward rather than outward looking, and it is at its most characteristic when a composer is taking a tune that originated in one country and reworking it in... Read Less