The Renaissance In Music (National Public Radio Milestones Of The Millennium)

Unlike some "greatest-hits" samplers, this well-chosen selection can serve a purpose for even some fairly advanced music lovers who still don't know this period well. Annotator David Fallows ties things together with perceptive commentary, and the performances chosen (most of them from stylistically enlightened recordings) are all quite fine. The uncredited programmer hasn't hesitated to emphasize great names (Dufay and Josquin Des Prez) or to include stylistically weird material (Solage's incredibly dissonant Fumeux fume). Only a few minutes after Solage, we get the gorgeous euphony of Tallis' Spem in alium! It's a pity that no texts are included, or that there isn't any bouncy dance music, but this is still a fine single-disc introduction to the period. The timing is about as long as possible. --Leslie Gerber