https://www.discogs.com/The-Consort-Of-Musicke-Musicke-Of-Sundrie-Kindes/release/6027841
A huge anthology of renaissance chamber music, if you can call it that already in that time. Eight records, with music from the period 1480 to 1620, from Western Europe. An impressive boxed set, with a lot of extras to read and study.
Every now and then I listened to this record, going through all of the four records. So far it never really caught my attention. It is impressive in its size, but I think the recording is a bit off. Maybe it is the difference in years? This was recorded in 1973/1974, and I think Decca reached its peak in these historical recordings in the early eighties.
As a Dutchman I am happy to see there is some Dutch work on this too. But the pronunciation doesn’t come close to what I expect my language to sound in the renaissance.
I found this record in 1993. Two years earlier I visited a presentation on medieval music at the university in Leyden. I remember they were talking about the various revolutions that took place in music in that time. It was riddled with small samples that really touched me. This was a lot closer to the Middle Ages than I was used to come. To read about it is one thing, but this music got me so much closer.
As a result I kept on looking for these recordings. Usually I had to settle for the renaissance, like on this record. It comes sometimes very close to that feeling though. I do like the more recent recordings of these works though, as the recording quality is just better.