A very nice album for SCAdian ears
This is a fun album. it's festive, playful, and a real joy to listen to. There is something for everyone in this album--including and especially SCAdians. In fact there's probably at least one piece on this album that every SCAdian dancer, musician, and/or bard will recognize. There's courtly songs, love songs, and get out of your chair dances, even formal pieces you associate with concert halls.

Whether you play in the SCA or just love great historical music, this is one of the better albums I've ever bought--on amazon or anywhere else!

Recording is defective
The first one I got had a lot of popping and crackling, and some digital defects that cause the CD player to skip. I liked the music so I bought another copy and it was the same. Both wound up in the trash. Don't waste your money on this disk.

adequate performances but totally inadequate information
It is perhaps unfair to judge the performances on this recording (presumably made in the late 1950s/early 60s? - we are not given a date) by modern standards of early music performance. Yes, there are moments when the experimental nature of the approach is all too apparent, both in terms of the [im]plausibility of the interpretations and in the [at times] excruciating intonation (a particularly pertinent example is the shawm playing in track 10). But what is in fact by far the most deplorable feature of this recording is the utter sparsity of information provided - about the performers, the instruments, the composers, the repertoire, etc. Worse still, what little that is provided is often hopelessly inaccurate: sometimes in the form of blatant spelling errors (eg the Coventry Carol becomes here 'Lully Lullary', etc), at other times factual blunders (the medieval 'Estampie' in track 10 is in fact a 16th cent [ie Renaissance] tourdion, 'Quand je bois du vin clairet', whilst John Dowland's 'Frogg Galliard', c.1597, is here given an anonymous attribution...etc, etc, etc).

In short, for those not acquainted with pre-Baroque music, this is NOT a good place to start!!! Seasoned Early Music connoisseurs, on the other hand, may find a perverse pleasure in some atrocious moments, or perhaps take interest in its value as an example of historically informed performance style in the pioneering years - but you have been warned!!

For those interested, here are some alternative recommendations if you are new to this music: firstly, 2 wide-ranging compilations by 2 well-known ensembles -

1. Sinners and Saints - The New London Consort/Philip Pickett (Decca 48559)
2. Portrait ('Moyen Age et Renaissance') - Hesperion XX/Jordi Savall (Auvidis Fontalis 'Portrait' ES9904), or either of the 2 new compilations by Savall and his ensemble(s) on Alia Vox ('Harmonie Universelle', AV9810; 'Harmonie Universelle II', AV9839).

and a compilation (mostly of early music) featuring a number of different groups -

'Pastime with Good Company' (Alpha, A901) [includes groups like L'Arpegiatta, Le Poeme Harmonique, Diabolus in Musica...]

A nice overview of very early music
This was one of the first recordings of early music I ever bought. It's a broad survey of styles and periods, from the 12th to 17th centuries. I've become a more sohisticated listener since then, but I still get this one out fairly regularly. The recording is apparently old and the digital remastering was not done extraordinarily well, but those who are more interested in music than in audio equipment should be able to listen through the occasional (minor) vinyl surface noise. My major complaint (why I gave it 3 stars instead of 4) is the lack of documentation--there is no information about the musicians, and many of the composers are uncredited (some because they actually are anonymous, but sometimes out of apparent laziness). Still, at this price it's a bargain.

Don't Be Affraid
This cd is worth picking up. Yes the first couple of tracks have pops and crackles in it. And yes it sounds as if the music was transfered directly from a vinyl source. But the performances and selections on this cd are fabulous. And you get use to the flaws in the recordings. Which I find minor.

This cd was actually the first Medieval and Renaissance album I ever bought. I bought it randomly in 1992 to try and introduce myself to these two era's of Classical music. And it was PERFECT. I have been a loyal fan of Medieval & Renaissance music ever since. I currently own 25 to 30 cd's covering these era now. And this album is still one of my favorites......