Gothic Voices - Nowell synge we bothe al and som - MusicWeb International (BW)

This has to be my Advent and Christmas choice this year. A confirmed fan of the Gothic Voices in their earlier incarnation when they recorded for Hyperion – recordings which are still available and well worth investigating, though some are download or Archive Service CD only – I was delighted when they re-formed and began recording for Linn. As of old, they eschew dressing the music up for a modern audience: there are just four first-rate voices at play here, with no cornetts, sackbutts or even an organ, and the results are as pure and perfect as on those earlier recordings. Only those in search of folksy ‘jolly japes’ will be disappointed.

As an English specialist, Christopher Page kept the Voices on track diction- and pronunciation-wise and the new team are no less accurate in that respect. I take their French style ‘u’s in the Latin texts on trust. The new Voices, however, are not clones of the old: they now take a broader view of the Power Sanctus than their predecessors on The Service of Venus and Mars (CDH55290 – review – review). The recording is very good and Julian Podger’s notes in the booklet are very nearly the equal of those which Page contributed to the Hyperion series.

If you want something from the medieval period with a touch more earthiness, try Thys Yool, a recording by the Martin Best Ensemble reissued in 2017 and still very enjoyable 30 years on from its making (Nimbus 7103 – review – Christmas Past and Present).