Kolovratek, Vaclav Lahodny - Solemn, Religious and Other Songs from the Time before 1620 (1997)

Solemn, religious and other songs form the time before 1620

The selection of compositions presented here is a musical echo of the middle ages preserved in the repertoire of the Kolovrátek ensemble.
Our motivation for creating this record was firstly a commission from the K&K ART agency and secondly the increased interest in this area of music that we often encounter. However, Kolovrátek has made many other trips to the word of old music during the 25 years of its existence. The discovery of missing fragments of our musical past ( and we believe that through this we rediscover the heritage hidden deep inside us) fills us with knowledge, joy and wonder. For us, the relevance of this music is not only the result of some fashionable trend: it could also be that we can see in it our search for a pan-European identity, just as we used to seek our national identity in our home grown folk songs.

In this record, we presents samples of the creativity of the medieval troubadours, trouvers and minnesangers; examples of the earliest multiple voice motets and funeral processions („conducts44); students songs and many religious songs from hymn books.
There is also a rich selection of multiple voice madrigals. Even though these date from after the year 1500 (which is generally accepted as the watershed between medieval times and the modem age) we did not want to ignore completely the renaissance-style vocal polyphony which is especially well suited to Kolovratek’s vocal style.

In the production of this, Kolovratek’s third studio recording, we drew on the instrumental help of the Gothart ensemble and their replicas of historical instruments. We believe that you will enjoy listening to this new Kolovrátek CD as much as did making it during the spring of 1997.