Description
Entirely committed to the music of the High Middle Ages, the ensemble has developed its own distinctive sound over the past 15 years through influences from other musical styles. Thus, on their new CD “Singet vogel, singet…” oriental sequences, improvisational passages but also rocky-jazzy sprinkles appear. Nevertheless, medieval music-making practice shines through all the songs.
Tournaments, hunting and minstrelsy, knights, castles and battles – Otto von Botenlauben combines all of these. His life story is full of adventure and fascination – a good guide for the new CD. An extraordinary life by medieval standards takes him in the imperial retinue to Italy and the crusader states of the Orient. There Beatrix of Courtenay, a noblewoman of royal blood, changes his destiny and he remains in the Orient. In their marriage, a mixture of French, fine courtly life with an oriental touch and chivalrous virtue develops.
As the situation in the Crusader states becomes more and more difficult, he decides to return to his homeland in Franconia. Here he gives decisive impulses to courtly culture. He is listed in the Codex Manesse far ahead of the other great poets of his time Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach.
The new CD “singet vogel, singet…” brings all this back into today’s consciousness with a strong emotional charge. His poetry and songs lay fallow for almost 800 years, and now they are resurfacing. A piece of city history of Bad Kissingen which is made audible again by this CD…
Knud Seckel, multiple prize winner of various Minne competitions, and his ensemble minnesangs fruehling take you into a piece of occidental history. With diverse instruments and virtuoso playing, they recapture the atmosphere of this era.
The production was chosen as CD of the month July 2016 at www.minnesang.com!
Recorded in January 2016 at Studio Katharco
Contributors:
- Knud Seckel: vocals, hurdy-gurdy, symphonia, gothic harp, one-handed flute & drum
- Susanne Seckel: flutes, transverse flute, recitation
- Stefan Blickhan: Cister
- Frank Dieckmann: frame drum, darbouka, tambourello
Guest musicians:
- Jule Bauer (Triskilian): Vocals
- Claudia Heidl (music theater): Voice, portative
- Gaelle Durand: vocals
- Dr. Hadji Ahmed Abdelali: Oud
Review by Dr. Lothar Jahr, www.minnesang.com
“Knud Seckel and his ensemble “Minnesangs Frühling”, for years an established name in the German medieval music scene, present their most ambitious production so far: The focus of “singet vogel singet” is the minnesinger and crusader Otto von Botenlauben, born around 1177 as the son of the Count of Henneberg.
No melodies have survived from him at all. The ensemble counters this circumstance with its own sound creations, which offer broad room for improvisation, which the guests Gaëlle Durand (fiddle) and Hadji Ahmed Abdali (oud) in particular use ingeniously.
Knud Seckel’s new settings do indeed incorporate familiar modes and melodic models, and sometimes clearly allude to inspirational models. Thus the rousing song “Die aventiure”, which Knud Seckel also performed this year at the Falkenstein Minneturnier, is clearly based on the Cantiga de Santa Maria number 1 “Des oge mais”, which is also quoted in the interludes.
“Waere Kristes lôn”, on the other hand, quotes a “hit” of Seckel’s; he uses the same setting for the song as for Veldeke’s “Alse di vogelle” (see also the album “Ich zôch mir einen falken” by the same ensemble) after Richart de Semili’s “Quant le seson renovelle”.
In Botenlauben’s work, the large proportion of day songs is striking: For the sad farewell scenes between knight and lady at the call of the watchman in the early morning, Seckel uses no less than three female singers. In addition to his wife Susanne Seckel, a permanent member of the ensemble, Jule Bauer (Triskilian) and Claudia Heidl (musical theater) join the cast and provide vocal highlights.
With Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von Eschenbach, Seckel’s ensemble also brings two more famous contemporaries to the stage. Here the influence of the great Tagelied poet Wolfram becomes clear, whose “morgenblic” in its almost meditative mood with fiddle, gothic harp and tender female whispering is a highlight of the album. But Walther’s brilliant lampoon of Gerhard Atze also comes off very well to the rhythmically swinging fiddle accompaniment.”
Order no.: 99084
Format: Audio CD
Length: 71:36 min
Packaging: Jewelbox
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