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Yarlung hits a home run! This is its first 45rpm release, and Bernie Grundman cut the lacquers directly from the tape. The sound is clear and warm, intimate, and not too wide. The instruments are recorders, dulcian (a Renaissance double reed instrument), viola da gamba, guitar, theorbo, harpsichord, and percussion. “Grounds are the repeated chord progressions and melodies that lie at the heart of Renaissance and Baroque dances,” say the liner notes; the fact that Ciaramella is based in earthquake-prone California makes “movable ground” a pun as delightful as the lively music here. The first two tracks, by Gaspar Sanz and Andrea Falconieri, are from the late Renaissance and are heavily Spanish-flavored. In the Sanz, in fact, the Arabian influence is as prevalent as the Spanish. Adam Knight Gilbert, one of Ciaramella’s directors, contributes “The Fisher and Fox,” a whirling English-style dance that sounds straight out of the 1500s. Falconieri’s “L’Eroica” is a wild three-parter, and the version of “Greensleeves” is a world away from the soggy, sulky versions you normally hear. Ciaramella’s intonation can be a little…er…rustic, and the LP is too short—the CD version has 20 dances on it. I wish Yarlung had released this as a two-LP set, but I’m still thankful for it.
By Steven Estep
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