专辑简介

These songs of love and lute come from the time of Queen Elizabeth I and King James, at the end of the Renaissance. England was the last European country to begin publishing such music, but the publications that emerged over the course of about two decades by such composers as John Dowland, Thomas Morley, John Danyel, and Thomas Campian, among others, contained some of the most beautiful songs ever composed using the English language. Though these songs are usually heard now as solo songs, the books were published with 2, 3, and 4 parts, plus lute accompaniment, and were designed ao that the singers and lutenist could sit around a table with a single copy, with parts facing in different directions. In contrast, relatively few lute solo compositions were published during that time, but a great many manuscripts have survived, providing lutenists with a rich source from which to draw. This collection is built around the theme of lost love, a common one in the poetry and plays of the time (not to mention our own time), but also includes songs that hold out the possibility of happy resolutions.