Dowland: The Earl of Essex's Galliard

It is a remarkable coincidence that 2013 happens to be, along with Britten’s centenary, the 50th anniversary of Nocturnal, the 450th birthday of John Dowland and the 80th birthday of Julian Bream. In an attempt to mark all of these events, this recording presents, along with the Britten, three important works which span the fifty years which have followed it - Walton’s Five Bagatelles, Thomas Wilson’s Dreammusic, and John McLeod’s Fantasy on themes from Britten’s Gloriana, the latter composed specifically to mark Britten’s centenary, alongside short pieces by John Dowland.

"Beer and the viola da gamba both arrived in England in the space of a year, in the reign of King Henry VII”, wrote Henry Peacham. And yet it was not until the following reign, that of Henry VIII, that the latter instrument gained its noble status. The high point, however, occurred in the long reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603).

The consort song had its origin partly in the theatre, partly in madrigals inspired by the Italians, then very much in vogue. Fashionable English composers write songs, airs and dance pieces that would embody this uniquely English phenomenon; among them John Dowland and Anthony Holborne, who feature prominently on this disc, both leading figures in Elizabethan music. With his ensemble Musicall Humors, Julien Léonard has managed to create a viol consort of astonishing homogeneity, offset by the delicate presence at times of a lute, at times of a cittern, a harpsichord, the virginals or organ. The sonorities are round, warm, velvety, and for her first solo disc, the voice of Eugénie Warnier lies with unforced delicacy upon this instrumental duvet.

Emma Kirkby and Jakob Lindberg have devised a programme which takes in a wide spectrum of emotions: from the pastoral joyfulness of By a fountain and the melancholy of In darkness let me dwell, we are led via the desperation and drama of Bess of Bedlam to the conviction expressed in Music for a while that music has the power to vanquish even death. Interspersing the songs are lute solos, including Dowland’s immortal Lachrimae, but also Lindberg’s own transcriptions of Purcell pieces such as The Cibell and the Echo Dance of the Furies from Dido and Aeneas, performed on Lindberg’s unique four-hundred year old instrument. Kirkby and Lindberg are musical partners of long standing, with earlier collaborations on BIS including Musique and Sweet Poetrie (BISSACD1505), a survey of the lute song across Europe around the year 1600. ‘A grand tour conducted by a pair of ideal guides’ was how the reviewer in Gramophone described that disc, while his colleague in International Record Review found that the ‘undeniably glorious performances’ made the disc ‘a journey well worth making’.

John Dowland, born in London around 1563, was the most renowned lutenist in Europe. As a composer, he captured perfectly the fashionable melancholy of the Elizabethan age.

For her new album In Darkness Let Me Dwell, viola da gamba virtuoso Hille Perl has selected some of Downland’s songs, coupled with instrumental pieces from his famous collection Lachrimae, or Seven Tears (1604). Together with her viola da gamba ensemble The Sirius Viols, the Amercian lutenist Lee Santana and the soprano Dorothee Mields Hille Perl eloquently portrays the melancholy spirit of Dowland’s music. In the songs, the solo lute pieces, the gaillards and pavanes for viola da gamba consort this melancholy is infinitely touching, and highly expressive.

For this recording, The Sirius Viols was able to use copies of original instruments from the workshop of renowned instrument maker Tilman Muthesius from Potsdam.