Kay Hoffmann ‎– Floret Silva (1985, Germany)

Sounding at times like Vashti Bunyan fronting Sunforest, Floret Silva is a haunting mix of medieval music and progressive psych folk with Latin lyrics straight from the 13th-century Carmina Burana manuscript. The Floret Silva project was born when minimalist composer Kay Hoffman went to Italy in the mid-'70s. Once there, she met Welsh soprano Jacqueline Darby, who had recently been working with the Italian avant-prog band Pierrot Lunaire. Darby was working on new compositions with RCA producer Vincenzo Micocci in Rome and she asked Hoffman if she was interested in getting involved in a new project. Hoffman agreed and Gaio Chiocchio and Arturo Stalteri of Pierrot Lunaire also joined them on this new venture. Chiocchio travelled from Rome to play the guitar and other friends of Darby's also offered their collaboration. In a short time, Hoffman wrote all the material, inspired by the Carmina Burana and her love of Medieval and Renaissance music. Hoffman also contributed vocals, clavinet, and piano and, with Darby's haunting vocals and an impressive cast of jazz/rock/prog musicians, recorded Floret Silva during 1977 and 1978, under Micocci's guidance. Sadly, RCA backed off and the album went unreleased until a copy of the masters found their way to Japan, where the great Belle Antique label put out the first vinyl edition of Floret Silva in 1985. In 2006, US label Robot Records resurrected it again for its first CD release (ROBOT 034CD). After many years out of print on vinyl, Sommor presents a 2016 edition of this lost piece from the '70s Italian underground scene. A visionary album that anticipated the sound practiced by many neo-folk bands some decades later. RIYL: Jan Dukes de Grey, Vashti Bunyan, Sunforest, The Wicker Man, Pierrot Lunaire, Opus Avantra, Current 93, Nico, Gal Costa, The Wooden O, Giles Farnaby's Dream Band.

Floret Silva is a pure 70s art rock project, from concept to execution, a progressive folk adaptation of the 13th-century medieval songs collectively known as the Carmina Burana. Remarkably, it does not collapse under the weight of its own concept, and holds up quite well nearly 30 years after its recording.