The unusual name of Valentin Bakfark may strike some English speakers whimsically as sounding like a cross between a sound made by an auto in need of a tune up and another thing that -- well -- defies polite discussion. Nevertheless, Bakfark was a Transylvanian composer who was a giant among lutenists in the sixteenth century; his fame spread from the French court all the way to Vilnius and touched on most places in between. More than two-thirds of his extant output, unfortunately rather small, is in the form of intabulations, pre-existing polyphonic vocal pieces restated as highly decorative virtuoso pieces for the lute. Intabulations dominate the vast majority of lute music published in Bakfark's time, so his industriousness in this area is not surprising, although among lutenists his few original works have taken precedence. In Hungaraton's The Voice of Bakfark, the vocal ensemble
Voces Aequalis takes a novel approach to Bakfark's intabulations; the latter are performed by lutenist István Györi, which are then alternated by the vocal originals. This leads to a disparity of sound levels that can be jarring, as the vocal group is so very much louder than the lute, though the Hungaraton recording is rather loud overall, considering its source content.
Nevertheless, you have to hand it to
Voces Aequalis for originality; it is a Renaissance vocal group that has, in essence, made an album of lute music. One thing The Voice of Bakfark makes clear is that no matter how faithful Bakfark's intabulations are, they sound nothing like the vocal originals -- changes of key, tempo, mood, and sound, notwithstanding Bakfark's sparing and tasteful use of ornaments, render the intabulated versions unrecognizable in relation to their sources. The Voice of Bakfark is an intriguing program, both well played and sung -- you'll still want a remote, though, to control the volume as it plays.