Dowland: The King of Denmark, His Galliard

Alpha is particularly pleased to present this first disc devoted to the lutenist Thomas Dunford.

The programme combines lute pieces by Dowland with lute songs for several voices. These songs are certainly among the most frequently recorded works of the Elizabethan era. However, the four-part polyphonic texture is generally reduced to a single voice with lute accompaniment.

The approach adopted on this disc has been to realise the songs in several voices, thus reverting to the practice, widespread at the time, of an intimate ‘chamber’ performance of these pieces.

Thus the inspired playing of Thomas Dunford is answered by exceptionally rich polyphony, with the combination of the two offering a Dowland of unprecedented colour and energy.

Tom Daun has been working with early harp music for a long time and has also performed his own compositions. Here he performs on an “arpa doppia” and a much smaller gothic harp. The collection includes works by Dowland, Weiss, Reusner, Bach and Neusidler.

Vavilov and Kallos are accompanied by other musicians and perform works by Milano, Galilei, Neusidler Gaultier and others. They write 'Lutenists from Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and other European countries left a great heritage. These works are waiting for their turn to be deciphered and to be performed by musicians who would revive the beautiful samples of old music for present day listeners.'

Nigel North’s Dowland Lute Edition has gained him a garland of critical accolades. On this fourth and final volume, North presents a selection of dances and songs by the composer celebrated as the ‘English Orpheus’

Matthew Wadsworth: I used to spend hours in the basement of the library, listening to recordings of one of my great idols, Julian Bream – deciding which piece to write out and learn next. Since then, it has always been a burning ambition of mine to one day record the Varietie of Lute Lessons, and some 15 years after my initial forays into this stunning repertoire, it felt right to finally commit the pieces to disc.My choice of pieces for this recording was largely instinctive. It wasn’t possible to record all 42 pieces, so I chose the ones which spoke to me the most at the time, with a view to representing all styles and genres of the book.

Matthew Wadsworth, lutenist, is in great demand as a soloist, continuo player and chamber musician. He has appeared at major festivals in the UK, Europe and North America and can frequently be heard on radio, both in live performance and on disc.Wadsworth was recently made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and was nominated by The Independent as a “Rising Star for 2005”.

The set comprises Bream’s solo Dowland LP (1954) – which was his debüt solo recording, played on lute - and his solo Bach LP (1956), both originally recorded on the Westminster label and justly celebrated at the time. Here they are brought together with a wide selection of Dowland ayres, sung by The Golden Age Singers with Bream’s lute accompaniment. The CD booklet has a newly commissioned note by Tully Potter, a personal friend of Julian Bream, and includes reproductions of the original LP covers, LP labels and photos of the artists.