John Stinson
John Stinson directs the Ensemble of the Fourteenth Century through the secular and sacred polyphony of trecento Italy. His recordings restore madrigals, cacce and ballatas by Jacopo da Bologna, Landini and their circle with clarity, flow and scholarly bite.
With John Griffiths he led the Fourteenth Century Recording Project, drawing musicologists, literary scholars and specialist performers into a single enterprise: bringing works from the age of Machaut, Petrarch and Boccaccio out of the manuscripts and into sound. Built around the core of La Romanesca, the Ensemble gives two- and three-part textures room to breathe. Reviewers hear fine flow and impressive clarity, a mix of research and musical instinct that can convert listeners new to the repertory. The discs move from the courtly songs of Jacopo da Bologna and Giovanni da Firenze through Landini’s love ballatas, many newly recorded, to a reconstructed Florentine Annunciation mass. Sweetness and intricacy, not museum dust: music written for real patrons and real feasts.
Performing as Ensemble of the Fourteenth Century
The Ensemble of the Fourteenth Century is a collective of specialist singers and instrumentalists brought together for the Fourteenth Century Recording Project. The ensemble was initially formed around the leading Australian mediaeval ensemble La Romanesca, which was expanded to provide the varied instrumental and vocal combinations required by the repertoire.
I am Music - The Music of the 14th Century Vol. 3
The Music of the Fourteenth Century Series presents some of the earliest and most significant polyphonic settings of the lyric poetry of the late middle ages. Songs by Landini performed by The Ensemble of the Fourteenth Century.
Every Delight and Fair Pleasure - The Music of the 14th Century Vol. 2
Music from northern Italy written between the second decade of the 14th century and the early years of the 15th century. Contains anonymous works from the Rossi manuscript and songs by Maestro Piero and Bartolino da Padova.
Two Gentlemen of Verona - The Music of the 14th Century Vol. 1
Two Gentlemen of Verona is an anthology of recordings of the secular music of medieval France and Italy. This volume contains works by Jacopo da Bologna and Giovanni da Firenze.
John Stinson also appears on
A Florentine Annunciation - The Music of the 14th Century Vol. 4
The Music of the Fourteenth Century Series presents some of the earliest and most significant polyphonic settings of the lyric poetry of the late middle ages. Music for the Feast of the Annunciation performed by Les Six.
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