Discography
Not a Single Road
Seldom Sene • Brilliant Classics 95956 • September 2019
An eclectic collection of music commissioned by Seldom Sene between 2015 and 2018.
Aspasia Nasopoulou's Ten dipoles (2016) is a collection of miniatures inspired by ten opposites which, according to a pre-Aristotelian theory, form the basic principles of all elements. To surpass the usual sound potential of a recorder quintet, sound artist Horst Rickels and designer Ernst Dullemond created a set of new instruments: the Ten Free Aerophones.
Sören Sieg's African suite no. 24: Mathongo amnandi (2018) is all about dreaming. Its title means “sweet dreams” in Xhosa, one of the twelve official languages of South-Africa.
Quo quondam victa furore (2015) by Paul Leenhouts is a narrative musical poem, based on the Culex ('The Mosquito') from the Appendix Vergiliana. This pastoral miniature epic tells the story of a sleeping shepherd...
Finally, Thanasis Deligiannis' A bit unfair is based on three short poems by Iacovos Camhis. The performers interchange roles as recorder players, singers or a mix of both.
Aspasia Nasopoulou: Ten Dipoles: No. 1: Good | Bad. More samples here
Delight in Musicke
Seldom Sene with Klaartje van Veldhoven, soprano • Brilliant Classics 95654 • March 2018
Baldwine • Byrd • Dowland • Gibbons • Nicholson • Patrick • Purcell • Tye
King Henry VIII of England (1491–1547) had a natural inclination for music and established ensembles of viols, recorders, flutes and shawms at Court. This rich musical tradition continued throughout the reigns of Elizabeth I and her successor James I.
In this CD, Seldom Sene and Klaartje van Veldhoven present ingenious instrumental repertoire and songs of sundry kinds: from theatrical laments to celebrations of spring and settings of devotional poetry.
"The five members of Seldom Sene hold true to their name: through their rich choice of instruments they produce a beauty seldom heard." – Margaretha Coornstra, Luister.
John Dowland (1563–1626): I shame at my unworthiness. More samples here.
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations
Seldom Sene • Brilliant Classics 95591 • October 2017
Humour, emotion, order, gracefulness, power – nothing is strange to the Goldberg Variations!
This well-known collection condenses the art of harpsichord playing into thirty wide-ranging pieces based upon a simple bass line. Beautiful arias, intelligent canons, elegant dances and spectacular toccatas display the styles, forms and techniques available to professional keyboardists in Bach's time.
The homogeneous sound of a consort of instruments of the same family suits keyboard music very well. Ideally a consort is one instrument in the hands of five players. This is exactly the challenge we have enjoyed the most while preparing this album: how to think, feel, articulate, time, breath, tune and phrase as one player.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): Goldberg Variations: No. 28
Ed. Pierre Phalèse: Bransle. More samples here.
Cosmography of Polyphony
The Royal Wind Music • Pan Classics PC 10377 • 2017
Music by Juan del Encina, Alonso Lobo, Carlo Gesualdo, Nicolas Gombert, Adrian Willaert, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Johann Sebastian Bach and others
Cosmography is the branch of science which deals with the general features of the universe. By extension, the term can also refer to a description or a visual representation of the cosmos, the earth or any other area. Our own Cosmography of Polyphony sketches the musical universe of The Royal Wind Music, including Renaissance music from England, Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Flanders and a couple of excursions into the Baroque. The repertoire spans three main areas: vocal polyphony, ensemble music and arrangements of keyboard compositions, mainly for organ.
El aire se serena
Seldom Sene • Brilliant Classics 95304 • February 2016
Music from the courts and cathedrals of 16th-century Spain
Works by Antonio & Hernando de Cabezón, Josquin Desprez, Francisco Guerrero, Alonso Lobo, Cristóbal de Morales and Tomás Luis de Victoria among others
The title, taken from the Ode to Francisco de Salinas by Luis de León, invokes the tranquility of some of the motets and love songs on this record, although we also prepared a lot of virtuosic instrumental music which will definitely set the air in quick motion!
Alonso Lobo (1555-1627): Ave Regina Coelorum. More samples here.
Anthony Holborne (+ 1602): Heigh-ho Holiday. More samples here.
Sweete Musicke of Sundrie Kindes
The Royal Wind Music • Lindoro NL-3023 • 2014
English consort music from the 16th and 17th century
Music by William Byrd, John Coprario, John Dowland, James Harding, Anthony Holborne, Thomas Tallis and others
In the 1530s the Bassano brothers of Venice were recommended to the court of King Henry VIII as musicians, composers and instrument makers. The Bassanos founded a consort of five recorders, being joined in 1550 by Augustine Bassano (d.1604) to form a six-member consort that was manned principally by their offspring until the unification of wind consorts into one group in the 1630s. The repertory of this ‘royal recorder consort’, which inspires this CD, consisted of fantasias as well as dances and instrumental arrangements of motets and madrigals.
Taracea
Seldom Sene • Brilliant Classics 94871 • 2014
A musical mosaic spanning five centuries
Music by Josquin Desprez, Antonio de Cabezón, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Jacob Handl, Christopher Tye,
Anthony Holborne, Thomas Tallis, J.S. Bach, Max Reger, Fulvio Caldini, Aspasia Nasopoulou and others
Taracea is the Spanish word for an inlaid decorative work made from small pieces of different coloured woods and other fine materials, arranged to form intricate geometric shapes. For this CD we sought a collection of contrasting, masterful works that would 'slot together' to form a harmonious, yet stylistically varied mosaic. We have paid special attention to the repertoire that we consider to be the golden ages of consort playing: the Renaissance and our time.
Thomas Tallis (ca. 1505 - 1585): O Sacrum Convivium. More samples here.
Angeli, Zingare & Pastori
The Royal Wind Music • Lindoro NL-3018 • 2013
Symbols & allegories in Italian Renaissance music
Masterworks from the musical centers of Venice, Naples and Rome
Music by Tarquinio Merula, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni Maria Trabaci and others
This album is a journey through the many characters inherent in the ensemble music of late 16th and early 17th century Italy. The title refers to three recurrent allegories found not only in music but also in literature and the visual arts.
Salomone Rossi: Gagliarda detta Narciso. More samples on the RWM website
The Garden with Countless Windows
ÆroDynamic • Lindoro NL-3012 • 2012
Medieval music by Jacopo da Bologna, Johannes Ciconia, Guillaume Dufay, John Dunstaple and Leonel Power
Contemporary music by Antti Auvinen, Aspasia Nasopoulou, Elizabeth Gaskill and Katarzyna Arnhold
The garden with countless windows was, I say, endless...
Nikos Egonopoulos: Rodia = SO2H4
"Vocal murmurs” produced by wood and throat in a joyful confusion of timbres, registers and articulations...
Josemi Lorenzo Arribas • Diverdi.com • February 2013
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En er Mundo
The Royal Wind Music directed by Paul Leenhouts • Lindoro MPC-125 • 2012
Classical and popular encores from all over the world, including:
En er Mundo • El Colibrí • String of Pearls • Meditation • Nanatsu No Ko (七つの子) • Tulpen aus Amsterdam Sininen Uni • Lonesome Road Blues • King William’s Rambles • Bartók: Roumanian Folk Dances • & more!
A delightful mixture of musical gems, recorded with lots of spirit by real masters!
Radio Stephansdom, Vienna • February 2013
José Luis Quintero Muñoz: En er Mundo • More samples here
Del Canto Figurado
The Royal Wind Music directed by Paul Leenhouts • Lindoro MPC-123 • 2012
Vocal & instrumental music of the Spanish Renaissance
With Capella Sancta Maria directed by Enrique López-Cortón • Alfred Fernández, vihuela
The low instruments and the magnificent, sighing and zooming sound, combined with the beautiful singing of Capella Sancta Maria, evoke a thoughtful face that looks to the horizon in tears, bearing a feeling of loss. Nevertheless, through the splendor of diminution and the golden musical brocade, we also hear in this Spanish music the earthly rumble of a growing beat that tells us: here it happens, here and now...
Jan Goorissen • Blokfluitist • January 2012
Francisco Correa de Arauxo: Glossada • More samples here
The Flute-Heaven of the Gods
The Royal Wind Music directed by Paul Leenhouts • Lindoro MPC-119 • 2009
Polyphonic settings of popular tunes present in the repertoire of Dutch 17th century recorder collections
Music by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Clemens non Papa, John Dowland, William Brade, Johann Pachelbel, Johann Sebastian Bach and others.
The Royal Wind Music sounds solid, pure and rustling: If there is a flute-heaven, this is how it sounds.
Anthony Fiumara • Trouw • May 2010
Valentin Haußman: Tantz LLXIV • More samples here
A Noble Noyse of Musicke
The Royal Wind Music directed by Paul Leenhouts • Lindoro MPC-118 • 2007
Vocal & instrumental master works of the English Renaissance
Music by William Byrd, Giovanni Coprario, Anthony Holborne, Thomas Tallis and others
With Christopher Field, countertenor • Israel Golani, lute • Matthias Havinga, organ • Johan Hofmann, virginal
Anonymous: Farewell the Bliss • More samples here
Alla Dolce Ombra
The Royal Wind Music directed by Paul Leenhouts • Lindoro MPC-712 • 2002
Poetic music by Italian and Austro-German masters
Music by Johann Hermann Schein, Samuel Scheidt, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Cipriano De Rore and others
With Israel Golani, lute • Johanna Seitz & Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir, harp • Elisabeth Seitz, salterio
The members of The Royal Wind Music clearly enjoy an excellent rapport and form a remarkably unified ensemble. Their programme is appealing from the outset with Schein’s Suite X, which features a full sound, accurate tempi and striking dance movements.
Véronique Lafargue • Goldberg Magazine • 2004
Cipriano de Rore: Justus es Domine • More samples here