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A touch of Mediaeval glamour was bought to Lichfield Garrick when Classic FM Favourites the Mediaevel Baebes played the Theatre. The 11 piece band ran through an extensive range of Latin, French, and English Songs from the 12-14th centuries. The band, ably assisted by Cittern and guitar player Stephen Yates and percussionist Vince Johnson projected a full sound, filling in the vocals with harmonies and their own contributions on Concertina, Recorders and hand percussion. Four albums into their careers, the singers had a wide range of songs to choose from. The concert started with ‘Salva Nos’ before ‘Undrentide’ the title track to their latest album. The songs were individually introduced so the audience knew something of their meaning, having been written centuries earlier in either foreign or now dead languages. However, the themes of death, love and disease (but not necessarily in that order) reflected the concerns of the times in which the songs were written. Sadly, some of the songs and their themes are still relevant. Band leader Katherine Blake sang the touching solo lullaby ‘Swete Sone’ and was followed by a solo Cittern piece. Even the recorder solos fitted the songs, and rescued the instrument from the purgatory of primary school assemblies. The sweet harmonies and instrumental backing for the touching ballad ‘Pearl’ was a highlight and ‘How Death comes kindly’ was given a similar treatment. The band also tackled the mediaeval love ballad ‘Scarborough Fair’ returning some of the meaning and melancholy that it often lacks in more recent interpretations. The band encored with ‘Adam Lay Abounden’.
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