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(More customer reviews)Grab this while it lasts! This is a reissue of a 1980 recording that will remain forever unsurpassed - both because its quality is so great, and also because no one in this day and age will dare to undertake such a massive project again. Think about it - the entire Dufay secular output! Listening to these songs, written more than 500 years ago, reveals how little has changed in the intervening centuries. Many styles and genres came and went, but the human impulse to express emotion in a song remained the same. This is why these old songs remain so appealing today. Dufay, who was possibly the greatest composer of his time, wrote most of his secular music in the fixed medieval forms (such as rondeau, virelais and ballade), but his songs transcend the formalities because he was such a remarkable melodist. Listen to such masterpieces as Vergene Bella or Donnes L'Assault a la Fortresse to know what I mean. The informative sleeve notes explain the characteristics of each style. The recording took into consideration the latest available musicological research into Dufay and his times. To cover the entire ground, some compositions are presented here in several different versions. Vocal and instrumental pieces alternate to provide variety (as the notes inform, the pieces with incomplete texts were not vocalized). The instruments (a typical medieval array) consist of recorders, flutes, dulcians, shawns, trumpets, rebecs and fiddles; plus lute, harp and clavichord used for continuo. The singers are excellent. The recording features half of the Hilliard (in its then-existing roster): Rogers Covey-Crump, Paul Elliott, Paul Hillier & Michael George. Tenor John Elwes contributes some fine singing (particularly in the spectacular Vergene Bella, sung solo to a fiddle and rebec). The only person who is perhaps not up to the highest standards is countertenor Timothy Penrose, although his singing is definitely adequate. On balance, a very satisfying release. Buy! gkolomietz@yahoo.com
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