Okay - when I said:
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This is where Sequentia comes in. They did claim the music to be based
upon an extrapolation of the musical traditions of Medieval Iceland and
did claim that significant efforts were made to recreate both the music
and speech of the time and place. With this in mind, it is obvious that
the inhabitants of Modern Iceland are in a better position to evaluate
Sequentia's claims than the rest of us. Therefore, I can't say that any
of us should fault Haukur and Oskar for their naturally biased
evaluations.
It's the bias that we're counting on to give us information not available
from any other source.
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I didn't know that we would be treated to such an excellent example of the
mentioned bias
When Konrad wrote:
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The musicians in Sequentia are fine and highly trained specialists, but
they
simply lack the many years of highly specialized training, and the
uniquely
Nordic sensibility, which are absolutely required to perform this music.
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This notion of a so-called "Nordic sensibility" is clearly correct - yet -
it is also,
clearly, a distortion. Yet, I don't wish to sound overly critical. All I
wish to say is
that there is room for other "sensibilities" within any sphere of knowledge
other than
just that one which would seem most pertinent. What we hear from Sequentia
is the
result of their own, sort of patented method of recreating dead musical
forms from
what little remains of them. In this manner, what they've provided should
not be
taken lightly - especially by those who possess the more pertinent
"sensibility".
Doubt gives knowledge flexibility - and therefore greater strength. Doubt is
the yeast
in the bread. Those who leave doubt behind live in a world grown too small.
Actually, I think that last bit would sound better in ON - although I don't
know the
words. Maybe latter.