Featured Album May 2023: The Royal Wind Music "The Orange Tree Courtyard"
This month, for our second featured album, we’re very pleased to be featuring one of the most prominent recorder consorts in Europe who return with their new album on the Pan Classics label.
Avid fans of our annual Recorder31 promotion may remember the fantastic Instagram takeover and video diary which The Royal Wind Music shared with us, whilst recording their new album last August. We’re delighted to share that the resulting album, The Orange Tree Courtyard has now been released! Read on for more information about this exciting new collection of Spanish Renaissance consort music…
The Orange Tree Courtyard
Renaissance Music in and around
the Cathedral of Seville
The Royal Wind Music
OUR FEATURED ALBUM FOR MAY 2023
Scroll down for an exclusive video premiere taken from the recording sessions of The Orange Tree Courtyard!
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From the artist's press release…
The Cathedral of Seville is a gigantic building even by today's standards - in 1401, the city's ecclesiastical superiors decided to build a huge church in place of the former mosque, which future generations would still marvel at, and is one of the largest churches in the world.
From the former mosque, the magnificent tower "La Giralda" remains, as well as the courtyard planted with orange trees, which also gives the name to the new CD by The Royal Wind Music.
The flute consort, consisting of 11 recorders of all sizes, takes the listener on a walk around and into the cathedral and lets Renaissance works created for this place sound at each station.
The walk begins in the famous orange tree courtyard, goes to the magnificent altar of the Virgin Mary, looks out over the city from the tower, visits the tombs of the musicians Francisco Guerrero and Francisco Peraza as well as Christopher Columbus' son, the scholar Hernando Colon, until the path ends again in the courtyard.
The music gathers the who's who of the Spanish Renaissance: Pedro de Escobar, Francisco Guerrero, Cristobal de Morales, Miguel de Fuenllana, to name but a few.
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Why The Early Music Shop loves "The Orange Tree Courtyard":
From the opening ethereal layers of The Orange Tree Courtyard, the new album by Netherlands-based recorder ensemble The Royal Wind Music, the impact of the group’s Renaissance consort of recorders is powerful and remarkable. For over 25 years, the group has been at the forefront of the international recorder consort scene, initially under the leadership of founder Paul Leenhouts, but in the last decade a collaborative effort between some of the continent’s brightest recorder pioneers.
While previous albums have focussed on the music of England, Italy and Germany, it’s Spain in the spotlight this time, with works by composers including Pedro de Escobar and Francisco Guerrero forming a transfixing narrative around the Cathedral of Seville through the Renaissance music of the region.
Bookended by some wonderful improvisations, the programme is well-framed and takes the listener on an engaging journey through some of the lesser-known music from this era. Grouped together into pieces representing different areas of the titular courtyard, the stately hymn tune Virgen bendita sin par, attributed to Pedro de Escabar, represents the grand altar, while later in the disc, the playful polyphony of Alonso de Mudarra’s dances brings us into the Chapter Room. These interpretations are a highlight of the programme, with the sumptuous harmonies of the Pavana I leading into a delightful Gallarda.
While much of this music is quite steady in tempo, there is ample variation in intensity in the divisions heard in the higher instruments, providing interest and sparkle. The harmonies and textures explored in this music are also hugely varied; just as you settle into the predictability of the harmony, a false relation or suspended chord will throw you off course and pull your attention in a different direction. Meanwhile, the aforementioned improvisations, based on an Andalusian modal exploration technique, are sonically unlike anything else on the disc. The use of the Moroccan mode Raml-al-Maya is fascinating and the interplay between the musicians is exciting to hear.
Aside from the featured compositions, the sheer power of this 11-piece consort is the standout impression of any album by The Royal Wind Music. Having the forces to double parts in multiple octaves brings an extra dimension to the sound, which is warm, expansive and inviting. On The Orange Tree Courtyard, The Royal Wind Music are your tour guides around the stunning architecture of the Cathedral of Seville, and we encourage you to follow them on the trip!
The Orange Tree Courtyard is in stock at The Early Music Shop now - order online or buy from our Snape Maltings showroom!
Click here to buy now!
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE!