Historia Sancti Eadmundi, an account of the martyrdom of a ninth century Saxon king who became the first widely prominent English saint, was written and elaborated upon from the tenth through the twelfth centuries. The subtitle of this CD, "From Dramatic Liturgy to Liturgical Drama," is based on the proposition of the Italian ensemble
La Reverdie that by the twelfth century it was not uncommon for narratives like this one to be performed dramatically with music, and they cite as evidence various contemporaneous accounts either praising or deploring the practice. While the "restoration" of this particular Historia does not claim to reconstitute an actual medieval performance, it does attempt to faithfully re-create what a liturgical music drama devoted to St. Eadmund might have sounded like. Given the thoroughness of the scrupulously documented research, and the quality of the resulting performances, this is a CD that should be intriguing for any devotee of early music looking for recordings that are both academically responsible and musically lively and engaging. The group of women's voices supplemented by a broadly colorful assortment of period instruments brings vibrant energy and imaginative realizations to the ancient material. The performance of this Historia, which originally might have lasted a full day, is shortened to fit on one CD, and consists of antiphons, sequences, responsorial, and readings based on the text. The variety of presentations include vocal solos and unison choruses, sometimes a cappella and sometimes underscored by drones, with a variety of imaginative but appropriate accompaniments, as well as instrumental interludes. Among the most astonishing tracks are the readings, often dramatically accompanied by percussion, spoken by a soloist, or by a chorus in a kind of semi-pitched homophonic Sprechstimme, a tremendously effective device. The sound is clear and clean, and nicely atmospheric.