It’s Eduardo Antonello again! Yay! You might remember his Praetorious recording from a few Throwback Thursdays ago. “Tant Que Vivray” is one of my most favorite French Renaissance pieces. It’s just charming.
That’s the chap.
de Sermisy wrote this piece in the 1520, during the reign of Francis I. Francis was a serious patron of the arts (he acquired the Mona Lisa) and of scholarship, who apparently standardized the French language. de Sermisy joined the court of Francis in 1515 and became assistant chapel master in 1533. In an odd sort of way, we are listening to the same music heard by the (quite expired) king of France. Wowie zowie.
The Daily Tune-Up 
When you get a minute . . . We’re hearing: 1. some kind of woodwind, is that a krumhorn? And is that the slightly nasal sound? 2. some kind of keyboard 3. 5 string instruments, one plucked early on. Which one(s) give the slightly sawing sound, those in the higher tones? 4. And a percussion. I love this guy’s videos.