Corte Antica

Detailing a multitude of recited, sung and played works, this absorbing release offers a fascinating insight into the rich world of medieval entertainment.

Much of the music is based on comic, parodic and satirical poetry, and this is nowhere better exemplified than in the earthily humorous 15th-century sonnets - which, cast in Paduan dialect, lie at the heart of the compilation. From the troubadours' and trouvères' refined tales of chivalry and love, to the Goliards' 'updated' Latin texts discussing wine, women and general joie de vivre with rude vigour, the collection draws on many different parts of Europe as well as illuminating the ever-increasing attractiveness of secular literature at that time. It also features a series of courtly dances (among them the French estampies) that call upon the wonderful assortment of instruments comprising the release.

Music clearly had an important role to play in everyday life during the Middle Ages, whether in accompanying battles, banquets or festivities. Combining anonymous works with new discoveries as well as classics - such as the extract from the Carmina burana of Codex latinus 4660 - Corte Antica's lively performance conjures up a crossroads at which all manner of musicians, poets and dancers are able to meet.