Empires: Latitude 37

ABC 481 0483

Lattitude 37 logoAnyone who has an interest in the 17th century will love this disc. It is remarkable for its attention to authentic performance practice. The three members who make up this relatively new ensemble all learnt their craft at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, a great centre for early music.

Baroque violinist, Julia Fredersdoff and violas da gamba player Laura Vaughan both come from Melbourne, and with harpsichordist Donald Nicolson from New Zealand, form Latitude 37, named after the latitudinal position which links Melbourne to New Zealand. They are joined on this recording by a variety of other artists who play such instruments as the oud, daf, riq, ceramic dahola, viola da gamba and violine.

The music reflects influences of the Holy Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Lutheran Church. So it is a real blend of styles, which show the conflicts, tension and movement between the rival regions. You will hear Western keys are intermingled with Middle Eastern modes, and Arabic rhythmic intricacies blend with European meters.

Composers included here are Buxtehude, Gottfried Finger, Biber, Bernard, JC Bach and Dimitrie Cantemir (a Moldavian prince who became a great scholar of Turkish classical music while living in Constantinople).

There are numerous short pieces (mostly dance-like pieces) without a known composer, but each selection sheds some new musical nuance or compositional gem for the ear. Along with Sonatas and Trio Sonatas, there are two songs for male alto as well, one by JC Bach and the other by Bernhard.

The performances on this CD are captivating in every way. The music is engaging, alive and flawlessly played. It is a re-discovery of much early music that will intrigue for its colour and exotic nature. This is a trio that is deserving of widespread awareness in the music world.

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