CD 3: The Silver Swan
The Silver Swan
BG-624, original LP cover
William Byrd (1543-1623) was "bred up to musick under Thomas Tallis." Following his master's footsteps, he composed religious music, and became by the age of forty-five the most celebrated musician and organist in England. At about this time he turned to the madrigal, his first publications appearing alongside a growing stream of publications in England of Flemish and Italian madrigals. The two madrigals on this program typify Byrd's ability to give the form a thoroughly English character, and to combine airy charm with masterful polyphony.
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) belongs to the following generation, although he died only two years after Byrd. His contribution was imposing in every branch of music of the time, including some of the noblest creations of English church music. His four madrigals on this program are outstanding for their profound feeling, rich polyphony, and sustained linear grandeur.
Francis Pilkington (c.1570-1638) was a singer and lutenist before he became an ordained minister. He published three sets of madrigals, and songs with uncomplicated, sweet melodies.
John Ward (baptized 1571, d. c. 1638) wrote church music and viol compositions as well as madrigals. He was patronized by the Fanshawe family, especially Sir Henry (1569-1616), to whom Ward's madrigal collection, First Set of English Madrigals, 1613, was dedicated. Although successful in his lifetime, Ward's music was subsequently forgotten until Edmund Fellowe's pioneering research led to the republication of Ward's madrigals in 1922.
[Notes for tracks 15-18 can be found here. Notes for tracks 19-23 can be found here.]
Oriana Seeming to Wink at Folly, composed by Robert Jones (c.1577-after 1615) is from the celebrated collection The Triumphs of Oriana, edited by Thomas Morley and published in honor of Queen Elizabeth in 1601-3. It exhibits how the madrigal, imported from Italy, became a characteristically English mode of expression.
Originally released as Vanguard/The Bach Guild BG-624 (tracks 1-14), BG-554 (tracks 15-18), BG-578 (tracks 19-23) and BG-639