Madame
d’Amours Henry VIII and his queens
A Songbook for Isabella
Celebrating
the Birth of Music Printing
Fire &
Ice
All the Sizes in the World
Word Play
Master of
Musicians
The Triumphs
of Maximilian
The Field
of Cloth of Gold
A Medici
Wedding
The Age of
Gold
A Renaissance
Carnival
A Royal Songbook
Doulce
Memoire
Madame d’Amours Henry VIII and his queens
‘Madame d’Amours A programme
which looks at music at the court of Henry VIII through the eyes
of his queens. Some of the pieces refer directly to the leading
figures in his court and to the families of the queens themselves,
showing how music developed under Henry VIII from the late medieval
style to the renaissance.
A
Songbook for Isabella
A programme celebrating Isabella d'Este, one of the greatest patrons
of music who encouraged both composers and instrument makers. Isabella,
herself a gifted amateur, was largely responsible for the evolution
of the frottola (the most significant Italian song-form before the
madrigal) and for that paramount instrumental ensemble of the renaissance
- the consort of viols. The music performed in this programme comes
from an early 16th century manuscript compiled, most probably for
Isabella, by Ludovico Milliare - it certainly contains exactly the
type of repertoire we know to have been popular at her court in
Mantua. Musica Antiqua of London perform this programme on a newly-commissioned
set of late 15th century viols - they are the first group to attempt
to recreate the viol that Isabella d'Este would have known.
Celebrating
the Birth of Music Printing
Petrucci's Odhecaton of 1501 rightly occupies a special place in
the canon of prints of renaissance music. The first music book to
be printed with movable type, it contains a wealth of music for
voices and insruments from the major European traditions; its influence
was also felt well beyond Venice and other city states of Italy,
with copies bought by many collectors outside Italy. To reflect
this international flavour, this programme presents works from Petrucci's
prints alongside settings from other countries.
(Four viols, lute and singer)
Fire & Ice
Love songs from sixteenth century Venice. A programme based on a
Venetian songbook compiled around 1500, which paints a vivid picture
of one musical family in Venice. The texts and music deal frequently
with emotional extremes - the Fire and Ice of the title.
(6 performers) as featured on SIGCD035
All the Sizes in the World
A rare opportunity to hear the very earliest music for viol consort.
This programme shows how the viol was born and how it travelled
around Europe in the early 16th century, beginning at the court
of Isabella d’Este and ending at the court of Henry VIII.
(5/6 performers)
Word Play
A small-scale programme involving only 4 people which takes the
best-known madrigals of the 16th century and demonstrates how various
composers set them in a variety of ways – virtuosic divisions
on recorder and viol, intabulations for lute and settings for voice.
(4 performers)
Master of Musicians
Songs and instrumental music by Josquin des Pres, his pupils and
contemporaries. This programme demonstrates the richness and variety
of Josquin’s secular music, in the context of other settings
by his contemporaries and pupils. (3 singers + 6 instrumentalists,
or 1 singer + 6 instrumentalists)
The Triumphs of Maximilian
The Emperor Maximilian I employed the very best native German composers
to produce music for his musical household to perform. This programme
includes songs and instrumental pieces featuring exquisite settings
by Senfl, Stolzer, Rhau and Isaac. (6 performers)
The Field of Cloth of Gold
Music written for, about, and by two renaissance princes: Francois
I and Henry VIII. These cultured, warlike and vivacious men come
to life through the music, from the ‘Kyng Harry VIII Pavyn’
to ‘Vive le noble Roi de France’. (6/7 performers)
A Medici Wedding
The complete wedding music for a 1539 Medici wedding, with nine
singers and fourteen instrumentalists playing a large range of instruments.
(23 performers)
The Age of Gold
This programme celebrates the Spanish origins of the lute and the
viol – quintessential instruments of the Golden Age of Elizabethan
music. It includes music by the Spaniards Ortiz, Mudarra, Guerrero
and Encina, and English lute songs, consort songs, fantasias and
dances by Byrd, Ferrabosco and Dowland. (6 performers)
A Renaissance Carnival
A concert in four ‘scenes’ reflecting the kaleidoscopic
gaiety of a sixteenth century Italian carnival. The programme exploits
the full range of instrumental colours, from the intimate viol consort
to the raucous shawm band. (3 singers + 5/6 instrumentalists)
A Royal Songbook
Sacred and profane songs from the Palace Songbook of Ferdinand and
Isabella, in which religious fervour and unrequited love rub shoulders
with the comic, the bawdy, and the downright rude! The songs alternate
with dance music and fantasias. (6/7 performers)
Doulce Memoire
Sixteenth century French chansons, in the original forms and in
contemporary arrangements as Dutch dances, Spanish divisions, German
viol consorts and Italian canzonas. (6 performers)
