For the first time since his debut of Hildegard (Hyperion, 7/85), Christopher Page offers a disc devoted to monophonic song. But this time it is not the Latin songs but the music of the troubadours and trouveres about which he has written so persuasively in two major books. There is not much 'Spirit of England' here, except in the musicians and their musicianship; as I have said before, perhaps the drift of this series will become clearer as it progresses.
But this is a disc of startling power and originality. Essentially it explores two repertories: the serious grand chant, particularly in the work of Gace Brule, whose four songs here are presented with tremendous conviction and in wonderfully spacious readings; and the lighter dance songs, where Page often includes instruments, played with robust good humour. As regards the rhythmic approach, this is neatly varied to match the needs of particular songs: sometimes an equalist interpretation, sometimes syllabic, and sometimes in strict metre roughly derived from the principles of modal rhythm. That seems a thoroughly judicious and musical solution, and it gives the disc considerable variety of pace.
Margaret Philpot shows her astonishing stylistic range in the five songs she sings, from Richart de Semilli's jovial Je chevauchai via Gace Brule's wonderful De bien amer and concluding with my own favourite here, Au novel tens pascor, the late chanson de toile by Audefroi le Bastart. Emma Kirkby makes a welcome return to Gothic Voices with two glorious performances: her success in later music has been so great over the last few years that it has been too easy to forget quite how expressive she can be in early monophony, especially with Page's rattling folk-style lute playing in Domna pos vos ay chausida. Beyond these it is particularly good that the disc includes a descort – that fascinating but undervalued genre – and a jeu-parti (though done by a single singer, which seems odd for a genre that specifies different poets for different stanzas).
Everything here is performed on a very high level indeed. Once again Gothic Voices have produced a record that sets new standards. R1 '9508112'