Sequentia’s all-male ensemble, Sons of Thunder, and their original three-member group have together produced this entertaining programme of biblical lais. Opening with the well-known story of Samson and Delilah (depicted on the cover of the booklet), it continues with the misfortunes of Job, David’s lament over the death of Saul and Jonathan, Noah’s Ark, the Genealogy of Christ, a catechetical miscellany of Old and New Testament heroes brought together in a potted history of the Church, and a dance lai in praise of Mary.
These examples of pious, courtly or monastic entertainment are a valuable addition to the growing corpus of medieval music of high quality currently available on disc. They illustrate the popular subject-matter and the customary techniques. There was clearly a common pool of melodic formulae known to every poet-musician. Thus, for example, we can recognize almost identical seventh-mode themes in Samson and in Omnis caro peccaverat – the story of Noah – but used to far greater effect in Samson! The singers’ achievement is to have intensified the drama by varying the tempo and rhythm as each story unfolds. In general this is brilliantly done, without ever going over the top, though I am inclined to think that the rather quiet first entry of Samson, so well prepared by a tremendous build-up of repeated phrases, was suggestive of a character shorn of his strength rather than of the mighty Old Testament wrestler. Apart from this unfortunate anticlimax, just when one is expecting to hear the vibrant tones of a Hercules at the top of his range, the variations of speed, rhythm and timbre seem to work rather well. There is tremendous bounce and drive and instruments are used with restraint and for valid reasons. The booklet supplies texts and translations, lucid information and full source references.'