Does anyone know what has happened to this project? See here, p.10:
PDF link
I bought one of their CDs:
link
This CD includes some interesting pieces but from both a technical and a historical point of view is a nightmare.
The CD contains 58 tracks, but from track 41 on all tracks are grossly overmodulated.
They were just not capable of recording the titles properly [e.g., track 1 is just noise…] and, consequently, the track list and descriptions in the booklet don't match the sequence of the tracks on the CD either. Moreover, some track titles are incomplete, some pieces (esp. short signals) are not mentioned in the text at all.
Generally, the booklet was made quite carelessly. Printed on cheap paper, too, some edges (with text) cut off…
Finally, they recorded quite a number of unhistorical pieces, esp. some allegedly late medieval and Renaissance pieces from Germany such as "Seckenheimer March", Fifer's March from Worms", "George von Frundsberg", "Fifer's March, 16th Century", "Fifer's March Cambrai", "Feldmars den Geu(t)zen" [sic; the correct spelling would be: "Feldmarsch der Geusen"], all of which have been proved to be fake marches of later 19th or earlier 20th century date already years ago (see, e.g., Achim Hofer, Studien zur Geschichte des Militärmarsches, 1988).
At least, they are quite good musicians and played well. But what is it good for when the research and engineering are just inadequate. I can hardly believe that the Bate is part of the faculty of music of Oxford University. Shame on them!
Considering the lousy quality of the CD "Sound the Trumpet, beat the Drum!", and in light of the fact that the CD "From the Peninsula to Waterloo" has been overdue for almost one and a half years now, I wonder whether the latter will ever be released. Their website ( bate.ox.ac.uk ) remains silent on both project and CD, so it will not happen, I'm afraid. Which would be a real pity as I would really have loved to listen to all those British, Dutch, Portuguese, German and Spanish pieces (authentic pieces, I would have hoped) they promised to perform (in a historically accurate way, I would have expected)…
gets started with Flintloque.