Best of English Renaissance Music (guitar)
More details about each song, by courtesy of Jon Sayles:
"
My Lady Carey's Dompe
Anonymous, circa 1524,
England.
Originally for keyboard (harpsichord or its predecessor), this arresting tune has been recorded widely, and you can find dozens of references to it on the
Internet. I apologize for the drop in volume. A dompe was either a lively dance or old
English song (my research identifies both definitions for the term). I'd also heard that a dompe was a reference to the broad hoop-skirts that ladies-of-means wore under their dresses to "poof-them-out", as seen in the many paintings from the era.
Dedicated to
Stacy Irwin - Graeme's daughter, extraordinary student
and gifted pianist.
The Witches'
Dance
Anonymous -
Incidental music to
Shakespeares' MacBeth
Act III.
Browning
Browning is my all-time favorite
Early Music work - by - arguably - the least well-known composer of all time, with the best name: Elway Bevin
Fantasia
John Dowland (1562-1626) - This magnificent lute solo - which
I've multi-tracked, is a piece I've wanted to record for years - decades actually.
The arrangement is by
Frederick Noad, and is a signature work - something I can't recommend highly enough. After a thoughtful beginning where
Dowland introduces the themes, the tune takes off using a number of variations and ends with an incredible triumphant flourish.
Worth a listen.
Flow my tears
John Dowland (1563 - 1626) - Not a double(!) - this poignant lute song has a haunting and deeply moving melody line - harmonized by stunning chords arranged by
Bill Long.
It's one of my Dowland favorites.
Listen to the melody line in the last part of the last verse as it depicts flowing tears.
Fantasia
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) - one of my favorite two-part instrumental works.
Fast and furious, this little ditty flies at the top of my technical range.
Fun tho
... and dedicated to
Donna and
Gracie H
. Donna being one of the most extraordinary talents and wonderful people I've ever been blessed to work with (and Gracie her daughter). You're a lucky girl Gracie. But then -
I'll bet you already know this.
The Faerie Round
The Faerie Round - which I really love, taken from a lute transcript - awesome rhythms.
Hornpipe - from the
Faerie Queene
Henry Purcell (1658 - 1695) - I know nothing about this 4-part piece, except that it absolutely rocks, and is at the top of my technical range.
Absolutely worth a listen. Stunning.
Thanks (as always) to Sue Iadone who found the arrangement.
Lady Walsinghams Conceite
Daniel Bacheler (1572 - 1619) - This wonderful tune is a testimony to Lady
Walsingham - a shrine built in the
1000's by a
Saxon noblewoman in Walingham,
Norfolk -
U.K. Bacheler is a wonderful composer, famous in his time for lute playing and lute compositions, at least one of which is played in the standard solo classical guitar repertoire (by players a
LOT better than me). This particular piece is from a book of consort works for four instruments, and if you check out the last section you'll understand what a virtuoso he must have been.
De la Tromba Pavin
Richard Allison (~1560 - 1610) - This year was kind of like "the year of the Pavanne" - with (I dunno')
8, 10? instrumental Pavan recordings by various authors. This one was very clean and nice - with a solo in the "A" section that sets the mood.
The
Nightengale
Thomas Weelkes (1575 - 1623) - an awesome, quick rhythmically fascinating, 3-part madrigal, uptempo, too."
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The text and the great performance are both by Jon Sayles. You can read more about his work, and listen to the individual performances, at his website:
http://www.jsayles.com/familypages/earlymusic
.htm .
A big thank you to Jon Sayles for his great work!
Please help me share his work further - it deservers to reach a wide audience.
Digital version of the painting by courtesy of the Getty's
Open Content Program.
This video has been done as a personal project and for non-commercial purposes. Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge, the painting and the songs allow for their sharing on Youtube. If that is not so, please send me a message at earlyclassicalmusic@outlook.com and I will act swiftly to correct the situation.