Harmonia Mundi – Danses Anciennes de Hongrie (180g LP)

If you think a bombarde is a thundering medieval cannon, this record will give you the chance to hear a different sort of bombarde and a host of other new sounds too. Better known as a pommer, this reed instrument is just one of a host of historical instruments which luckily have not fallen totally into oblivion and upon which the Clemencic Consort perform. In addition to several other wind instruments such as the cornet and flutes, the musicians perform on small keyboard instruments like the regal, harpsichord, positive organ and diverse percussion instruments.

The majority of works on this recording were found by the ensemble in two Slavic codices and the Leutschau Virginal Book – a collection of music made in the middle of the 17th century in Hungary. These sources contain not only dance movements for performing at court, which have been known since the Renaissance, but also sacred and profane songs. As is usual in historical performance practice, each movement is given a different instrumentation and inner voices have been added to produce an intricate web of instrumental parts. Despite all the historical authenticity, the producers relied on thoroughly modern analog techniques to achieve a sound recording of the very highest level.