Sweet Melancholy

In many ways, Vincent Dumestre's ensemble Le Poeme Harmonique could be seen as comparable to their label mates L'Arpeggiata. Both straddle that early music / world music gap, sounding comfortably contemporary without in any way debasing the roots of their thems. This disk is titled Love Is Strange and centres on the Elizabethan idea of melancholy, most familiarly associated with Dowland but also noted in Shakespeare and other composers of that period. There are pieces composed by Dowland and John Johnson among others as well as anonymous themes. The instrumentation used here consists of virginal, lutes and citarrone and there is an improvisatory feel to much of the music. The Alpha record label really does produce interesting beautifully recorded music, packaged in a most attractive way. They are similar to ECM in having such a defined house style, albeit a totally different one. This disk can be listened to a gentle relaxing music but as with others I've recently written about, it repays closer study. The playing is immaculate.