Shakespeare's Musick
24 songs and instrumental pieces by anonymous, John Dowland, Valentin
Haussmann, Pelham Humfrey, Robert Jones, Thomas Morley, Henry Purcell &
William Wigthorpe
Philip Pickett and The Musicians
of the Globe
Philips 468 024-2 PH
[71:56]
Crotchet
AmazonUK
AmazonUS
Shakespeare's Music
33 songs and instrumental pieces by anonymous, William Brade, William
Byrd, John Dowland, Alfonso Ferrabosco, Matthew Holmes, John Johnson, Robert
Johnson, Richard Nicholson, John Marston, Thomas Morley, Thomas Ravenscroft,
Nicholas le Strange & J. Wilson
various artists
Dorian DOR-90017
[78:50]
Crotchet
AmazonUK
AmazonUS
Here are two albums with almost identical titles - it is important to be
sure of that additional k on the Philips release - with equally similar methods
and intents. Both are compilations drawn from existing albums, setting-out
to celebrate the music of Shakespeare's plays and of his world in the wider
sense.
Shakespeare's Musick is subtitled "A collection of music from and
inspired by the works of England's master poet and playwright", and is, or
so the copyright dates suggest, a compilation drawn from three previous releases
from 1997, 1998 & 1999 by Philip Pickett and The Musicians of the Globe.
We are not told the titles of the previous recordings, or whether they are
still in the catalogue. As the uncredited notes tell us, Philip Pickett and
his players have a strong association with the new Globe theatre, and of
the origins of the pieces on this disc "Some were used as incidental music
(in the original Globe), some were merely alluded to within the plays and
others were inspired by the general enthusiasm of the time for all things
'dramatic'."
The advantage of drawing material from three previous albums is that this
current disc is in the position to provide a very wide-ranging exploration
of the music associated, at least by us 400 years later, with The Bard and
his works. This is such that, unlike more homogenous collections, there is
little possibility of the newcomer to such a distant sound world becoming
bored, making this a suitable introduction to early English song and instrumental
music. This applies even more so to Shakespeare's Music, which is
drawn from no less than ten previous albums, all of which are illustrated
in the accompanying booklet.
Shakespeare's Musick begins with the well known 'It was a Lover and
his Lass' by Thomas Morley (As You Like It), elegantly delivered by
the sopranos Libby Crabtree and Rachel Elliot. After this Joanne Lunn offers
refined sauce in the anonymous 'Watkin's Ale', her highly sensual vocal lines
contrasting with the detached and distant purity of 'The Poor Soul Sat Sighing
(The Willow Tree Song)' as voiced by Meredith Hall, another anonymous setting,
this time from Othello. The programme is attractively interspersed
with such instrumentals as 'Nutmeg and Ginger' for mixed consort, and rather
more famously, 'Greensleeves', arranged for two lutes and performed by Jacob
Heringman and Tom Finucane. Elsewhere, 'The London Prentice' sung unaccompanied
by baritone Roderick Williams offers an increasingly fervent tale of hardly
resisted seduction, the rather more lavish 'Full Fathom Five' (The
Tempest), lets us privy to a complex interplay between two harpsichords
supporting chorus, violins and bass viol to fine effect.
If the sound is rather more refined, and the performances more restrained
and artful than one might imagine would originally have been the case on
the Elizabethan stage, no mind. Accept this as what it is, a modern fantasia
upon our romantic view of the world of Shakespeare, a view certainly perpetuated
though the beautiful Pre-Raphaelite painting of Romeo and Juliet selected
for the artwork, and enjoy. This is the accessible, popular face of early
music and none the worse for it. Full texts of the songs would have been
nice, though happily the diction of the singers is so precise one can hear
every word.
Almost exactly the same comments can be made about Shakespeare's Music,
which offers a little more music and virtually no overlap in the pieces chosen.
The ensembles and artists featured are The Baltimore Consort (9 tracks),
Les Witches 6 tracks), Ensemble Doulce Mémoire (1 track), The Toronto
Consort (1 track) and lutenist Ronn McFarlane, either solo or in partnership
with soprano Julianne Baird or tenor Frederick Urrey (a total of 16 tracks,
13 of which are with Baird).
Clearly from the 33 tracks McFarlane and Baird dominate, the singer bringing
a simple, folk quality to 'Greensleeves', a more rounded and playful quality
to Johnson's 'Where the Bee Sucks', a distant sadness to the anonymous setting
of 'The Willow Song'. The Baltimore Consort offer a spirited range of melodies,
'The Dark is My Delight' by John Marston particularly offering a fine tune,
delightful woodwind playing and a sensual vocal performance from the
unfortunately uncredited singer. Indeed, none of the members of the various
ensembles are credited, nor are texts provided. Fortunately, again like the
Philips album, virtually every word can be discerned without difficulty.
This is a very attractive collection which, considering the number of different
sources the material has been drawn from, works particularly well as a programme
in its own right. Julianne Baird is an exceptional singer and the disc is
worth it for her contributions alone, though it may be that if you buy this
album eventually you will be buying many of the parent discs as well.
These two contrasting discs have much to recommend them and the same faults
in a lack of full documentation - though the Dorian release has the better,
more detailed notes. In the end it comes down to personal taste, and if I
could only keep one I would settle for Shakespeare's Music without
the additional k.
Gary S. Dalkin
