Dowland: Shall I strive with wordes to move?

Daniel Taylor is one of the most sought-after countertenors in the world today. This album represents a compilation taken from the almost twenty recordings Taylor has made for the ATMA label since 1997, and includes music by Bach, Handel, Purcell, Dowland and Buxtehude, among others. Taylor is heard performing solo, as well as with such singers as Suzie LeBlanc and Jan Kobow, in what promises to be the definitive portrait of this gifted artist.

The unrivalled master of the consort song and virtually the founding father of keyboard music, William Byrd -no less than John Dowland - is well served in these arrangements with viola da gamba duo and with lute. The purely instrumental pieces beautifully set off the telling voice of star countertenor Daniel Taylor.

Emma Kirkby has enchanted audiences with her almost supernaturally clear and agile soprano ever since she first appeared on the Early Music scene in the 1970s. As the art of historically informed performance has become more and more widely appreciated, so has her style of singing to the extent that she was included in a listing of ‘the 20 greatest sopranos ever’ made by the BBC Music Magazine in 2007.

Released on the occasion of her 60th birthday, the present collection celebrates her collaboration with BIS and includes highly acclaimed performances of works from her repertoire such as Handel solo cantatas (with London Baroque) and Dowland songs (with Anthony Rooley and Jakob Lindberg) as well as pieces by less familiar composers, such as Ariosti and Amodei, de Lalande and Schimmelpfennig. This collection provides an opportunity to sample the work of an exceptional singer in all its variety.

The accompanying booklet includes a personal appreciation of the performer by music critic Brian Robins, as well as the texts – in the original languages with English translations where applicable – of all the works featured.