This is chant with a modern twist! Twelve alluring women, dressed in medieval garb, singing songs adapted from the Middle Ages. Some of the songs, such as the French dance tune "Ah Si Mon Moine," are lightly accompanied by period-appropriate instrumentation such as recorder or dulcimer. The title track, "Salvo Virgo Virginum," "Veni, Veni" and "Verbum Caro" are sung in Latin; several songs are sung in what must be construed to be Middle English. "The Coventry Carol" and "Gaudete" are familiar holiday songs to most; they are given simple treatment, as was typical of the music of the era, which was defined by monophonic textures or unadorned counterpoint. Much of the music performed was either religious in nature, and sung as part of the Catholic Mass, or, if secular, was an accompaniment for dancing. "Salva Nos" may be a classical recording, and as such it is entirely respectable, but the "Mediaeval Babes" have a vitality that is thoroughly contemporary. |
