The Reformation in England had far-reaching consequences in musical realms. Composers were used to writing polyphonic masses and motets for the Roman-Catholic liturgy. The much more sober liturgy of the Church of England had no need for these, so there weren't many opportunities left to compose in polyphonic style. One of these opportunities was the viol consort, an ensemble of three to five viols which under Henry VIII had been imported from Italy. During the 16th century many pieces for viol consort were composed, and in these composers often used old liturgical chants as cantus firmus. It is even possible that in the performance of these pieces the cantus firmus was sung. Several examples of this kind of consort music are performed here, as the tracklist shows. From here it was a little step towards what is known as the 'consort song', a polyphonic piece in which mostly one voice is supported by an ensemble of viols.

One of the composers who put many efforts into this genre was William Byrd, one of the foremost composers of church music in the second half of the 16th century. He wasn't much interested in Italian-style madrigals as they were written in England in his time, nor in the lute song. Consort music, and especially the consort song, was much more appealing to this champion of elaborate music. Byrd wrote more than forty consort songs, which were never published in their original form. In his songbook of 1588, 'Psalmes, Sonets, and songs of sadness and pietie', some of them were arranged as partsongs.

Many consort songs are of a religious or moralistic nature. The picture on the cover of this disc is well-chosen: it is an anonymous French painting of about 1630, entitled "Allegory of the vanity of earthly things". The songs on this disc often refer to the vanity of human life: "O that we woeful wretches could behold how soon this life doth pass" (track 4). Or "O Lord, how vain are all our frail delights" (track 10). Some songs are more specific religious, like Ferrabosco's hymn 'Hear me, O God', which is about sin and the forgiveness through Jesus's death at the cross. This song has been preserved both in an instrumental version (Four note pavan) and a version with the text that is sung here. It shows that the voice is part of the ensemble, just one of the instruments.

This is one of the strengths of this disc: Jill Feldman's voice blends wonderfully well with the viols, even though she uses a slight vibrato. Another feature of these performances is their theatrical nature, very unlike most recordings of this kind of repertoire. A good example of this approach is the very first item on the disc, which is almost acted, with a rhythmically rather free delivery of the text. The dialogue between Joan and John in Nicholson's song (track 12) is very lively, in an almost baroque operatic manner. The viol consort contributes to this through sometimes strong dynamic contrasts. The songs of a religious or moral character are performed with great expression. Some of the most moving items are Byrd's 'O Lord, how vain' and Ferrabosco's 'Hear me, O God'.

The tempi seem sometimes a little too slow, in particular in Byrd's elegy on the death of his teacher, Thomas Tallis. The use of ornamentation is inconsistent, being absent where one would expect it to appear. On the whole a little more of it wouldn't harm. The modern pronunciation of the text is disappointing.

As I said before, it is quite possible, in the case of consort pieces based on plainchant, that the cantus firmus was originally sung. It would have been nice had this practice been applied here. However they are performed with instruments only, and they are played very well. The dynamic contrasts we find in a number of pieces on this disc are rather unusual, but are musically convincing.

In short, this is a fine disc, which brings an interesting and captivating programme of outstanding music, well performed and recorded.

Johan van Veen

 

 

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