{"id":18642,"date":"2015-04-17T11:42:48","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T01:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642"},"modified":"2015-04-17T11:42:48","modified_gmt":"2015-04-17T01:42:48","slug":"18642","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642","title":{"rendered":"CD Review: Gabriel’s Message\/The Renaissance Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TP232\"<\/p>\n

Cantigas de Santa Maria Volume V, Gabriel’s Message<\/em><\/p>\n

The Renaissance Players, Tall Poppies, TP232<\/em><\/p>\n

Gabriel’s Message<\/i> is the fifth and final volume in The Renaissance Players’ CD collection collectively called the Cantigas de<\/i> Santa Maria<\/i>. Gabriel’s Message<\/i> continues the ensemble’s excellent performances in the style of the time, on replicas of ancient\u00a0 instruments. The recording is supported by detailed historical notes, a discussion of issues surrounding modern-day interpretation, and the full text and translations of the songs.<\/p>\n

The history of this project driven by Winsome Evans, the director of The Renaissance Players, \u00a0has been covered elsewhere<\/a>. SoundsLikeSydney has also spoken with Winsome Evans about her journey with this project. <\/a>Briefly, the cantigas<\/i> are a collection of 420 monophonic medieval songs from Spain and Portugal, about the Virgin Mary. They were written between c. 1270 and 1290 under the direction of King Alfonso X El sabio (b Toledo, 1221; d Seville, l 1284), Spanish monarch, patron, poet, composer and King of Castile and Le\u00f3n from 1252. Some of the cantigas <\/i>are hymns of praise to the Virgin Mary, but most tell of miracles wrought by her and this CD even contains songs about the vandalisation of statues of the Virgin. Popular till the middle of the 15th century, the songs composed under Alfonso\u2019s direction are the only cantigas <\/i>which survive today.<\/p>\n

Gabriel’s Message<\/i>, which is dedicated to Gough Whitlam, contains just five tracks – and this is of numerological significance to the project as explained in the notes.<\/p>\n

The recording opens with Macar poucos canatres<\/i>, a cantiga<\/i> performed without text in which two cow horn pipes (gemshorns), played by Winsome Evans, accompanied by a pair of frame drums (panderos), played by Andrew Lambkin, pursue each other in imitation through a haunting, rustic melody.\u00a0 The open intervals, pastoral-style improvisation and unusual\u00a0 glissandi set the mood for the experience of a style of music that is long gone.<\/p>\n

The major piece on the CD is B\u00eaeyto foi o dia, <\/i>\u00a0a fascinating 23 minute cantata in which the perfectly matched voices of sopranos Mina Karanidis\u00a0 and Belinda Montgomery take it in turns to sing, chant and speak the verses which alternate with the bigger choral ensemble singing the chorus. Accompanied by a band which includes harps, bells, baglama (a long-necked lute of Turkish origin) and gittern (a short-necked lute of the Middle Ages), the singers tell the tale of the birth of Mary to her parents Anna and Joachim. The narrative moves through the grief and despair of the couple’s infertility, the annunciation of Mary’s birth and the redemptive joy of her conception.<\/p>\n

Poi-las figuras fazen dossantos renenbranca <\/i>is a spoken and sung cantiga<\/i> for soprano (Mina Karanidis) and two panderos. It is a rhythmically complex aeolian melody built on a recurring pattern of 24 beats in hemiola metres. Sung in measured and unmeasured rhythms, it tells of vandals who destroy sacred figures of the Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n

Porque trobar e cousa en que jaz<\/i> is the second instrumental number on the CD, a spirited dance, given an almost raucous rendition with the melody let loose by an ensemble of double reed instruments which includes shawms and zurnas (a Central Asian wind instrument). The percussion – notably the castanets, played by Barbara Stackpool – adds to the celebratory feel of this cantiga<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Finally there is the Pois que Deus quis da Virgen Fillo<\/i> another longer cantiga<\/i> followed by a dance of wild abandon. The fascinating storyline is narrated through exquisite singing and moments of high drama shaped by a variety of rhythms\u00a0 and ornamentation.<\/p>\n

Gabriel’s Message<\/i> recreates the music of a very distant time and place. Listening to its unique sound world I can well imagine the tales that were told as pilgrims gathered around a fire. Recreating the singing, the dancing, the rich colours and the exoticism of the Iberian peninsula of Alfonso X’s rule during the 13th century has been a labour of love and the fulfilment of a passion for this ensemble. In committing these sounds to disc and publishing their history, they have created a gift for the future.<\/p>\n

The CD stands on its own merits as well as being an integral part of the 5 CD collection. Gabriel’s Message<\/i> is a fine conclusion to a major project.<\/p>\n

Shamistha de Soysa for SoundsLikeSydney\u00a9<\/em><\/p>\n

Read our review of The Pilgrimage to Monserrat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cantigas de Santa Maria Volume V, Gabriel’s Message The Renaissance Players, Tall Poppies, TP232 Gabriel’s Message is the fifth and final volume…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"sls_format":[],"class_list":["post-18642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"acf":{"deck":"","is_featured":false,"media_type":"standard","audio_embed":"","video_url":""},"yoast_head":"\nCD Review: Gabriel's Message\/The Renaissance Players - Sounds Like Sydney<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CD Review: Gabriel's Message\/The Renaissance Players - Sounds Like Sydney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cantigas de Santa Maria Volume V, Gabriel’s Message The Renaissance Players, Tall Poppies, TP232 Gabriel’s Message is the fifth and final volume…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sounds Like Sydney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-17T01:42:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/TP232.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"175\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"175\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e\"},\"headline\":\"CD Review: Gabriel’s Message\\\/The Renaissance Players\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-17T01:42:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642\"},\"wordCount\":734,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/TP232.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642\",\"name\":\"CD Review: Gabriel's Message\\\/The Renaissance Players - Sounds Like Sydney\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/TP232.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-17T01:42:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/TP232.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/TP232.jpg\",\"width\":175,\"height\":175},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?p=18642#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CD Review: Gabriel’s Message\\\/The Renaissance Players\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\",\"description\":\"Connecting with Music\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/SLS-LOGO.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/SLS-LOGO.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":361,\"caption\":\"Sounds Like Sydney\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/soundslikesydney.com.au\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CD Review: Gabriel's Message\/The Renaissance Players - Sounds Like Sydney","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CD Review: Gabriel's Message\/The Renaissance Players - Sounds Like Sydney","og_description":"Cantigas de Santa Maria Volume V, Gabriel’s Message The Renaissance Players, Tall Poppies, TP232 Gabriel’s Message is the fifth and final volume…","og_url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642","og_site_name":"Sounds Like Sydney","article_published_time":"2015-04-17T01:42:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":175,"height":175,"url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/TP232.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e"},"headline":"CD Review: Gabriel’s Message\/The Renaissance Players","datePublished":"2015-04-17T01:42:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642"},"wordCount":734,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/TP232.jpg","articleSection":["Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642","name":"CD Review: Gabriel's Message\/The Renaissance Players - Sounds Like Sydney","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/TP232.jpg","datePublished":"2015-04-17T01:42:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/TP232.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/TP232.jpg","width":175,"height":175},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?p=18642#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CD Review: Gabriel’s Message\/The Renaissance Players"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/","name":"Sounds Like Sydney","description":"Connecting with Music","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#organization","name":"Sounds Like Sydney","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SLS-LOGO.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SLS-LOGO.png","width":1000,"height":361,"caption":"Sounds Like Sydney"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/#\/schema\/person\/0a3852eddeb5f8e3971a7ee828b5176e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25547aeb88bd329b67e6faa3eceee732614589699ca47c42b4e7638f39d89257?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au"],"url":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18642"},{"taxonomy":"sls_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundslikesydney.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fsls_format&post=18642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}