Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – An Elizabethan Christmas: Byrd, Holborne, Gibbons, Peerson, Weelkes (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:27 minutes | 1,26 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Signum Records
Viol consort Fretwork and mezzo soprano Helen Charlston explore the more reflective and sombre Christmas celebrations of Elizabethan England, in a collection of works by William Byrd, Anthony Holborne, Orlando Gibbons and Martin Peerson.
With celebrations confined strictly to the 12 days from Christmas Eve to Epiphany, the preceding Advent was regarded as a time of religious introspection, with music composed to mark both fasting and feasting. Byrd’s consort songs for voice and 5 viols encompass this range, from the joyous Out of the Orient Crystal Skies – ending with an exuberant ‘Falantidingdido’, a word whose meaning is lost to history – to his Lullaby, a ‘song of sadnes and pietie ‘that became one of Byrd’s most enduringly famous songs.
In 2021, Fretwork celebrates its 35th anniversary. In the past three and a half decades they have explored the core repertory of great English consort music, from Taverner to Purcell, and made classic recordings against which others are judged. In addition to this, Fretwork have become known as pioneers of contemporary music for viols, having commissioned over 40 new works.
Acclaimed for her musical interpretation, presence and “warmly distinctive tone” (The Telegraph), Helen Charlston is quickly cementing herself as a key performer in the next generation of British singers. Helen won first prize in the 2018 Handel Singing Competition and was a finalist in the Hurn Court Opera Competition, and the Grange Festival International Singing Competition.
Tracklist:
01. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Byrd: Out of the Orient Crystal Skies (03:37)
02. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Holborne: Pavan (02:00)
03. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Holborne: As It Fell on Holie Eve (01:00)
04. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Byrd: From Virgin’s Womb – Rejoice, Rejoice (06:49)
05. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Holborne: The Cradle (02:54)
06. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Holborne: Lullabie (01:33)
07. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Byrd: Lullaby (12:40)
08. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Gibbons: 7 Fantasias ‘for Ye Great Dooble Bass’: No. 1 a 4 (04:41)
09. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Byrd: An Earthly Tree – Cast off All Doubtful Care (06:19)
10. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Peerson: Attendite (04:34)
11. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Peerson: Upon my Lap, my Sovereign Sits (07:14)
12. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Weelkes: To Shorten Winter’s Sadnesse (02:34)
13. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Gibbons: 7 Fantasias ‘for Ye Great Dooble Bass’: No. 2 a 4 (04:56)
14. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Sweet was the Song the Virgin sang (02:10)
15. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Holborne: The New-yeares Gift (01:21)
16. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Holborne: Heigh Ho Holiday (00:59)
17. Helen Charlston, Emma Walshe, Amy Lyddon, Lucy Cox – Byrd: O God That Guides the Cheerful Sun (05:58)
