The Service of Venus and Mars: Music for the Knights of the Garter (Special Limited Edition) (1986)

performed by Andrew Lawrence-King (medieval harp), Gothic Voices, John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Leigh Nixon (tenor), Margaret Philpot (alto), Peter Harvey (baritone), Rogers Covey-Crump (tenor)
composed by Anonymous, Anonymous, English, Christmas Traditional, Franchois Lebertoul, John Dunstable, John Pyamour, Leonel Power, Philippe de Vitry, Pierre des Molins, Pycard, Richard Loqueville, Soursby

Gothic Voices' collection of music by French and English composers written between the mid-fourteenth and the mid-fifteenth centuries is loosely organized around the association of English noblemen established by King Edward III, known as the Knights of the Garter. The chivalric order (which has continued to the present day) is perhaps better known for its cryptic motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," (Shamed be he who thinks evil of it) than for its particular achievements. The music presented here was associated with the ... Read More

Gothic Voices' collection of music by French and English composers written between the mid-fourteenth and the mid-fifteenth centuries is loosely organized around the association of English noblemen established by King Edward III, known as the Knights of the Garter. The chivalric order (which has continued to the present day) is perhaps better known for its cryptic motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," (Shamed be he who thinks evil of it) than for its particular achievements. The music presented here was associated with the courts of the Order's members and includes outstanding examples of vocal polyphony found in British collections, most notably the Old Hall Manuscript. It includes ballades, carols, and motets from composers from both sides of the Channel, including such well-known figures as John Dunstable, Leonel Power, and Philippe de Vitry, as well as many excellent anonymous works. Most striking are the distinctly differentiated but integrated lines of the densely polyphonic motets by Pycard, P. de... Read Less