Hurdy Gurdy Woman

This is a disk of songs from 13th century France by the ensemble Sinfonye which is the project of composer and instrumentalist Stevie Wishart. Sinfonye consists of Wishart and two other vocalists, Vivian Ellis and Jocelyn West, with instrumental textures provided solely by Wishart on hurdy gurdy and medieval fiddle. Titled Three Sisters, which is a translation of one of the songs featured as well as reference to the members of the eensemble themselves, the songs are all in the troubadour tradition of chivalrous love but share many of the musical characteristics of very early church music and Gregorian chant. Many of the interweaving vocal lines by the three singers in fact tell differing stories simultaneously, although this effect is lost on those such as myself without the language skills to appreciate it. The first track on the disk, Azeruz, differs from the others in that it is a new composition by Wishart in the spirit of a medieval motet and has the most continual instrumental accompaniment of any of the other tracks. This is attractive enough while straying perilously close to a kind of Enya territory in parts. The disk takes a while to build an authentic medieval atmosphere on the back of this, especially when one might be expecting larger vocal forces in the chant like aspects. But that mood is eventually successfully built and maintained. The hurdy gurdy and fiddle don't feature on every track, some are acapella, but are very evocative where they are used with the distinctive hurdy gurdy being especially attractive.