Henry VIII: Pastyme with good companye

On a new disc to celebrate the 2012 Diamond Jubilee, The King's Singers present a selection of works from the past 500 years written in honour of the great Monarchs of Britain. Starting with works for (and in some cases by) Henry VIII, the programme covers the Elizabethan 'Triumphs of Oriana' by composers such as Gibbons, Mundy and Dowland; a very Victorian selection of dedicatory works by Elgar, Parry and Parrat; choral arrangements from the opera 'Glorianna' by Benjamin Britten; and a new piece by Paul Drayton that comically pens 'A Rough Guide to the Royal Succession'. (Drayton is perhaps best known to fans of The King's Singers as the composer of their much-loved encore work Masterpiece.)

“Harry our King”, the new CD of the well-known German ensemble Capella de la Torre, is a fairytale-like interpretation of music from the court of King Henry VIII Tudor of England.

King Henry was a well-educated and creative art lover, who played and composed music himself and gathered at his court artists and scholars from all over Europe. On this vibrant new recording songs and dances of Henry VIII and his contemporaries are made into a musical caleidoscope of courtial life with all its aspects of love, leisure and religiousness. Famous tenor Charles Daniels with his unique Old English pronounciation makes this music very much alive!

The elegant, keyless, cylindrical flute of the sixteenth century had a reedy, penetrating sound, closer to the cornetto than to any other wind instrument of the day. It had an impressive range of two and a half octaves and an evenness of tone quality that would not be matched again until the nineteenth century.

The pieces on this recording focus on repertoire for the renaissance flute consort, almost all of which was originally vocal music.

A musical journey back in time - to the world of the jesters and music makers of the royal chamber. Stately dances, gentle lute music and wistful love songs make up this programme of beautiful and elaborate sixteenth-century music from the Tudor courts of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

Imagine yourself in the fine surroundings of the Great Hall of Christ Church, Oxford, with a programme of Tudor sacred and secular music including music by Henry VIII, one of Christ Church's founders, and choral works associated with Christ Church during its first century.

Raise the drawbridge! Music for dancing in the keep, for meditation in the chapel and for feasting in the great hall. A collection of medieval and renaissance music which presents a musical tour of a great castle. Trumpets, drums, flutes, harps, recorders and lutes provide a rich and colourful programme created for pure pleasure and enjoyment.

Cheerful music to cook by, featuring some of the best Baroque music ever! Put this album on in the kitchen, and let the inspiration fall upon you as you chop and grind, boil and fry! Twenty one tasty tracks to add an extra flavour to your methode de cuisine!

The main purpose of this CD is to show that there is a wealth of good music, in many styles, available to the oboe beginner. These pieces are within the general Grade 3 level, and some of them can be played after just a few lessons, so that learning the oboe can be a musical experience right from the beginning. The tracks are marked 0 to 3, to indicate their general technical level, where 0 indicates a pre-Grade 1 piece.

There are two exceptions to the Grade 3 limit - Mozart's La ci Darem (Grade 4), because it points the way to a new world of musical expression, and Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter, because, as one teacher put it, it is by far the nicest way to learn the bottom two notes on the oboe.

The selection was made in consultation with a number of teachers. I asked them which pieces their pupils responded to with enthusiasm. I soon noticed the same pieces being mentioned time and again. Some pieces were liked by some teachers and not by others, and I added in my own preferences, and take full responsibility for the final choice.

It was also necessary to stick to a smallish number of books or tutors, so that the pupil is not faced with a large music bill. Where only one piece has been included from a particular collection, it always means that there are other equally good pieces in that book. Exclusion of a book of pieces does not mean it is not good. Attention was also paid to the various exam syllabuses for Grades 1 to 3; some of these pieces appear there, some do not.