Discography

A Royal Songbook (Naxos 8.553325)
Spanish Music from the late 15th century

'an interesting selection presented with accomplishment and flair'
Early Music Review May 1996

'[If] anyone has missed out on this repertory, then no doubt they can and will acquire a taste for it listening to this super-budget CD.'
Gramophone September 1996

The Triumphs of Maximilian (Signum SIGCD004)
Music by Senfl, Isaac, Stolzer and Finck




Buy/Listen to this CD at Signum

'For the viol playing, I think no praise is too high; they do everything with a pleasingly light touch and always with a real sensitivity to the music'
Gramophone June 1999
  Master of Musicians (Signum SIGCD025)
Songs and instrumental music by Josquin des Pres, his pupils and his contemporaries



Buy/Listen to this CD at Signum

'I've played this disc more than any other in this month's batch; marvellous music, sung and played with just the right style and musicianship: I recommend it strongly'
Early Music Review September 2000

'many imaginative touches, and interpretative subtlety in abundance…..Thorby's musicians blend instruments and voices in a manner which has become their trademark……this very impressive collection manages to say something new about Josquin - a noteworthy achievement.' Early Music November 2000
'An elegant, vivaciously presented anthology…attractively performed….a disc I have already enjoyed many times and plan to keep near me.'
Gramophone December 2000
Word Play (Signum SIGCD031)
Virtuosic instrumental settings of madrigals and chansons from 16th century Italy



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'Wordplay is the disc to buy….. instead of the cold virtuosity that is normally used for divisions, here we hear them as intensifications of the musical expression…… a genuinely new and imaginative approach to 16th-century instrumental music. This is an outstanding recording.'
Early Music Review October 2002

'a gem… Musica Antiqua has managed to provide the listener with a wealth of fantastic music and fantastic playing. Buy this recording! At least then you too will be able to enjoy what is one of the best CDs you will have heard for years….. the ensemble is so close to perfect with a unity that still allows personal freedoms enough to give it life beyond the sum of its parts'
Viola da Gamba Society Newsletter October 2002
  Fire and Ice (Signum SIGCD035)
Love Songs from 16th-century Venice




Buy/Listen to this CD at Signum 

'these performances… communicate an infectious sense of enjoyment and enthusiasm [and] make thoroughly satisfying listening…. excellently sung by the mezzo-soprano Clare Wilkinson, whose words are crystal-clear throughout'
The Daily Telegraph, 12 October 2002

 'played with subtle flexibility by Philip Thorby, John Bryan, Alison Crum and Roy Marks; the voice of Clare Wilkinson matches perfectly'
Early Music Review October 2002

'The performances given by every member of the consort are of the high quality one can expect of them, the ensemble secure, flexible, finely judged balances, again recorded in the excellent space of the National Early Music Centre in York… Clare Wilkinson’s singing is of top quality…. it [this CD] deserves its place in anyone’s collection of recordings.'
Viola da Gamba Society Newsletter October 2002


 A Songbook for Isabella (SignumCD039)
Music from the circle of Isabella d’Este




Buy/Listen to this CD at Signum

‘an appealing selection of music…..Clare Wilkinson – a highly sensitive exponent of this repertoire… clearly at ease with the style. A fine example of the collaboration of scholarship and performance practice.’
BBC Music Magazine, August 2003

‘The star of this disc is the matching set of Renaissance viols….. the instrumental playing on this disc is most accomplished and, in the viols consort pieces, serenely beautiful.’
International Record Review, July/August 2003

Madame d'Amours (signumCD044)
Music for Henry VIII's Six Wives

"everything sung and played to perfection"
Early Music Scotland