But be careful now. We have the first big problem on our hands: what type of choir do you hear now? And compare it to the Dunstable recording. Yes, let start with the female voices. I quote from the website of  Ensemble Scholastica

 

A female Gregorian chant ensemble?

Yes, women did sing during the Middle Ages! Contrary to the stereotypical beliefs about the period held by most people today, women had all kinds of opportunities to sing, play and compose music, both sacred and profane, during the many European Middle Ages (5th-15th centuries). Aside from a number of known female composers such as Hildegard von Bingen (the great German Abbess, famous in her own day) and Beatriz de Dia (one of a number of trobairitz, or female troubadours), the many female singing traditions included working songs, love songs, and monastic songs. All of these traditions produced hundreds of compositions preserved in manuscripts from all over medieval Europe. Another little known fact today is that until the 12th century, there were more female than male monasteries in Western Europe. For both male and female monastics, musical composition tended to be anonymous. But singing, and therefore musical composition, were hugely important to monastic life - there were 8 offices to be sung every day (and every day of the year had its own specific liturgical requirements), with hymns, sequences, psalms and all kinds of chant, in addition to polyphony on feast days.

A female vocal ensemble dedicated to medieval liturgical chant and polyphony is therefore neither anachronistic nor boring!

 

Well, I like the sound of this ensemble, and I am no specialist in this field. But for me the question is, “does it work”. And if the answer is yes, I think it is even allowed to make alterations beyond the possibilities of that time. I know, the diehards of “old music” will consider me crazy. I give two examples:

• Pianoforte of Piano
• French Horn, natural or with valves

It is so deadly simple, the old instruments don’t “work” for me. I pity the player (most of the times, exceptions make the rule) and I annoy myself as a listener. They even tried Brahms on “old” instruments. Well, if that’s allowed we are also going to listen to the orchestra’s that ruined the Bruckner and Mahler performances, because they were so badly trained!