Search - Anonymous, Bernard Revel, Ensemble Convivencia :: Bayeux Manuscript - 15th Century Old French Songs

The title of this album may sound esoteric and dry, but this is one of the rowdiest records of Renaissance music on the market. These aren't refined three-voice chansons by Dufay or Binchois with rigid, fixed-form lyrics; rather, they're single-voice melodies not unlike troubadour songs--only less high-toned and more Rabelaisian. Literally: the songs on this record were all quoted by Rabelais in Book Five of Gargantua and Pantagruel. The French musicians of Ensemble Convivencia render the songs as if in a street farce such as the titular giants might have seen on their travels. The occasional lover's lament is included, but more common are songs depicting old men unsuccessfully wooing pretty young girls and unhappily married wives sneaking out to cheat on their husbands. The performances are every bit as entertaining and irreverent as the material demands--poker-faced title notwithstanding, this record is a blast. (For another Renaissance romp, try Une Fête Chez Rabelais.) --Matthew Westphal