Collegium Vocale Bydgoszcz FINE KNACKS FOR LADIES

Collegium Vocale consort from the very beginning of its artistic path (1992) have incorporated Dowland’s songs in its repertoire, and performed them for many years in various configurations. Several presentations of solo performances and duets can be heard on the album “Bonjour, mon cœur” of 2006. The idea of recording the present CD is based on the consistent use of four-voice vocal ensemble. Why? We wanted to see, how songs, which are familiar to us in solo interpretations of Emma Kirkby, Barbara Bonney, Anne Sophie von Otter, Michael Chance, Nigel Rogers, Andreas Scholl and... Sting (among others), would sound in full 4-parts vocal performance. Do they lose its lightness, appeal and charm, or—in the contrary—the listener would discover more nuances, new layers of expression, hard to find in instrumental interpretations lacking words? Of course, we leave the evaluation of the effect to the audience. 

We invite to listen to a selection of most popular songs of John Dowland, interspersed with graceful instrumental miniatures performed on lute by Magda Tomsińska. We would like to encourage all vocal amateurs to actively perform this kind of music. 

We believe that the music lovers of today can appreciate it and get much pleasure and satisfaction from performing it, and it is really worth it to resurrect the great seventeenth-century tradition of home musicmaking. (Michal Zielinski)