The Musica Consort Vera

Renaissance music has a unique sound but I would not listen to it for leisure. It takes time for the ear to train well to hear such intricate tunes and sounds. I found the sounds of the instruments to be somewhat annoying and overdone. Many of the songs sounded completely out of tune and key. I could hear repetitive monotonous sounds that became irritating. I mentally appreciated the music but I could not physically enjoy the music and sou

Again, the musicians used many different instruments each varying in size and sound. Certain songs had a predominate sound that could be distinctly heard. I always noticed the krummhorn because of its j-shaped appearance that had internal reed giving it a bagpipe like sound. I could also hear the cornetti , an instrument that resembles a trumpet but of course composed of wood. The Native American song, Peace and Fellowship , was composed for the Native American flutes , hand made instruments created by the early American Indians and are essentially comparable to recorders. Another song, La Bergamasca by Gasparo Zanet ti, was for the instruments called the gemshorns . They were made of animal horns with recorder mouthpieces. In addition, the song Allmand by William Brade, was produced for the shawms . The shawm is an ancestor of the oboe and bassoon, and they also have a visible double-reed. The song titled Spagnoletta by Michael Praetorious was composed for the Renaissance flutes. I assume that composers may prefer the sound a certain instrument thus creating a song to appreciate it. I thought one instrument to resemble a cello but it is called a viola da gamba . It has six strings and frets, similar to a guitar but has a bow. I recognized a harp which is just smaller than a modern harp. It was played by many troubadours and folk musicians. Another recognizable instrument was the flute . It is a simple wooden tube with six holes for the fingers without a key. The kortholts have internal double-reeds along with a double back bores. They seem larger than they really are. The instruments also have interesting names and they do not seem to originate from their appearance. For example, the sackbutt is a small bore trombone yet has nothing resembling a sack on it. I also noticed how loud the sounds of each instrument are. Although there were only eleven musicians, the music sounded like there many musicians participating. The many sounds of each instrument combine to make one seemingly large sound. I was impressed with the few number of musicians yet the large produced sound.

The songs the musicians played varied in many aspects during concert. Many of the songs were created for entertainment or used as church hymns . Each song originated from different places thus having a different sound. Some songs did not only consist of instruments, but also had vocals. The vocals of songs were in different languages but told a story. The song Solider, Solider , an early 18th century American song, was about a young girl asking solider to marry her. He replied that he could not marry her because back home he had a family. Even though it was sung in English, I found hard to follow because the vocalist had to sing at a high pitch with the song. Other songs were sung in romantic or European languages but almost sounded like a chant rather than actually being sung. Some songs were translated, brought over seas, or derive from another

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