For various reasons, the consort songs -- for voice and viol consort -- of William Byrd have never been terribly well known. They don't have the compelling accompanying narrative of Byrd's religious music, rife with the sociopolitical intrigue of Elizabethan England. Nor do they offer accessible fun for all like the madrigals of the following generation, something Byrd seemed to acknowledge when he arranged some of his consort songs for several madrigal-style voice parts. The texts of the consort songs included on this ...
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For various reasons, the consort songs -- for voice and viol consort -- of William Byrd have never been terribly well known. They don't have the compelling accompanying narrative of Byrd's religious music, rife with the sociopolitical intrigue of Elizabethan England. Nor do they offer accessible fun for all like the madrigals of the following generation, something Byrd seemed to acknowledge when he arranged some of his consort songs for several madrigal-style voice parts. The texts of the consort songs included on this superb release by soprano Emma Kirkby and the viol ensemble Fretwork are mostly dark and inward. Several are religious in theme, one deals with a terrific little dog whose head is bashed in by a thug, and only one, a setting of Sir Philip Sidney's "O you that hear this voice," could be called lighthearted. Byrd's music is not nimble in the madrigalian way, but rather looks back to the intricacies of Netherlandish polyphony. These pieces, then, demand serious listening -- as Byrd himself...
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Add this copy of Byrd: Consort Songs to cart. $23.77, like new condition, Sold by Streetlight_Records rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Cruz, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by HARMONIA MUNDI USA.
