anon.: Trotto

This collection features music from the late Middle Ages using long straight trumpets, shawms, bagpipes and percussion. This type of ensemble came to Europe from the Far and Middle East, along the ancient trade routes. Les Haulz et les Bas is one of Europe’s most active alta capella ensembles. They have given lectures and masterclasses at the Universities of Oxford and London.

American-born soprano, Jill Feldman, is a leading artist in the field of medieval, baroque and classical performances. Kees Boeke is Professor of Recorder and Early Music at the Hochschule für Musik Trossingen, Germany. Together these artists present a glorious recording of music by de Machault, da Bologna and de Florentina.

The present recording proposes a repertoire of songs whose poetry and music are the work of troubadours and trouvères active in 12th- and 13th-century France. These pieces constitute in fact the first mediaeval surviving examples of song written in the vernacular. Here again is the Ensemble Constantinople, whose colourful instrumentation is graced by the presence of the soprano Anne Azéma, celebrated for her performances of mediaeval works.