DAPPER’S DELIGHT
Indoors
Karnatic Lab 025

www.karnaticlab.com/

Dapper’s Delight, the Dutch-based duo of Anglo concertina and recorder (the recorders are specially made and based on 16th century models) specialize in music that sounds far more ‘rarified’ than it really is: music from the period 1550-1750. Music was in transition then, before folk music as such existed, with ‘classical’ melodies often adapted to broadside ballads, as with “The Bucksome Lass Of Westminster,” whose tune comes from Purcell; music was classed as high or low, depending on the arrangement and performance. This mix of tunes and songs is expertly performed (recorder player Susanna Borsch is a revelation in what she can achieve on the instrument) and arranged, to the point where the ear doesn’t miss other instruments. This isn’t background listening; its delicacy and intricacy demands attention, although Adrian Brown isn’t the best singer in the world (but that does convey the ‘low’ aspect of some of the music). Some of the tunes will be familiar to lovers of English folk music, and there’s even a Morris tune (“Old Molly Oxford”) presented in slightly different form, with less emphasis on the rhythm, to close proceedings. This is much more than a dry, academic exploration. It brings the music of the period quite vividly to life, sprightly, endearing and sometimes quite bawdy.

— Chris Nickson