consort Archive
LAWES: Complete Music for Lyra Viol – Richard Boothby, lyra viol – HM
WILLIAM LAWES: Complete Music for Solo Lyra Viol – Richard Boothby, lyra viol – HM 907625, 59:37 (6/10/16) ****: Elegant “musical recreations” from the Court of Charles I played on the most famous surviving contemporary instrument on loan from Royal College of Music. William Lawes was the principal court composer for Charles I, his official title “musician in ordinary for lutes and voices.” He composed secular masques as well as sacred music for private worship. Viol consorts represented the most popular amateur music of the day, and Lawes brought this form to a new height. Perhaps his greatest innovation was his “broken consort” ensemble, which consisted of a violin, viola da gamba, theorbo and harp, the next generation’s harp consort. The handful of dance suites written for this unique instrumentation are among the greatest achievements of English 17th century music. (A recent recording by New Old Albion on Brilliant Classics gives us a splendid reading of these works.) When the Civil War broke out, Lawes signed on with the Royalists. A brave cavalier, he charged into battle at the rout of Rowton Heath. He took a bullet to the head, and thus ended the career of the court’s finest musical […]
Eight Christmas CDs for the 2016 Holidays
Eight Christmas CDs of Note, Holidays 2016 “Song of the Nativity” – The Sixteen/ Harry Christophers – Coro COR16146, 73:58 (10/14/16) [Distr. by Naxos] *****: This wonderful Christmas offering comprises some of the best modern carols and choral works of the modern age, sung to absolute perfection by a noted and very reliable ensemble. The sound is first rate and the dynamic range of this group never fails to astound. Fortunately, there are also seven traditional carols thrown into the mix, and they are taken, as directly as possible, from the classic Oxford Book of Carols from 1928. After all the Christmas albums that turn these gems inside out with never-ending permutations and cleverly assembled variances, hearing them in this form, sans ego and overly-stoked imagination, is a real and very genuine pleasure. This album will serve as a balm to over-jaded holiday sensibilities, and help to recapture the real meaning of the season. TrackList: Bullard, A: And all the stars looked down Chilcott: Shepherd’s Carol Davies, Walford: O Little Town of Bethlehem Gardner, John: When Christ was born of Mary free Ireland: The Holy Boy Jackson, Gabriel: The Christ-child Lauridsen: O magnum mysterium MacMillan: The Strathclyde Motets: O Radiant […]
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