This is pure sizzle and great fun from beginning to end. The massive collection of French court dances that Michael Praetorius collected and arranged for his volume entitled Terpsichore in 1612 was just one in the extraordinary series of publications he issued within only 15 years. In terms of pure compositional achievement it may be the least interesting of those volumes, but it has always worked well in performance because it is unquestionably the best medium for exploiting the vast range of apparently current instruments that Praetorius later described in the second book of his musical encyclopaedia Syntagma musicum. Rackets, shawms, Rauschpfeifen, many kinds of stringed instruments and much else are all chronicled here. And the music in Terpsichore is tailor-made for an imaginative and rich display showing the varied sounds of one of music's most colourful eras.
In presenting this selection with a daunting array of different instruments and ensembles, Philip Pickett follows a tradition inherited from the German Collegium Terpsicore via David Munrow and many others. But this may be the first such record devoted entirely to the Terpsichore collection. Most others offer something else on the second side. Several of Pickett's choices and even some of the orchestrations seem familiar from earlier records—which I find surprising, given that there are over 300 pieces in Praetorius's collection. But the sound—especially on CD—is so good that it seems churlish to complain.
In all, there is a massive cast of nearly 40 musicians taking part, among them some of the most admired early-instrument names in London. There is any number of absolutely delicious sounds; and the groups are juxtaposed with quick-silver elegance. The performances include some imaginative departures from the sketchy details of Praetorius's harmonizations, though it is odd that so little embellishment was used. Perhaps that is a function of the functional 1980s, which here seems to avoid the kind of individual showing-off that made some of the earlier Terpsichore recordings so exciting. Here the excitement is in the vitality and cleanness of the ensemble sound.
The CD seems to be far preferable. With so many short dances, it is extremely helpful to be able to select particular tracks and particular sound-combinations. The track display on your machine can also provide useful help in identifying any particular dance for future reference. But, most important of all, the CD gives a stunning presence to the dazzling range of instruments; on the LP you lose much of the fun.'