The Fantasia No. 1 by William Byrd, in honor of his 400th anniversary, performed on Elizabethan viols by The Voice of the Viol viola da gamba consort.
Wendy Gillespie, Elisabeth Reed, Farley Pearce and William Skeen, viols.
The Voice of the Viol, a program of Voices of Music, is directed by Elisabeth Reed.
In his Fantasia, Byrd demonstrates his extraordinary command of counterpoint and texture. The initial countersubject, sounded only once in the piece, is a simple, bell-like four note pattern which was also used for Anne Boleyn's lament "O Death, rock me asleep." A lively and engaging musical conversation based on points of imitation resonates throughout.
William Byrd was one of the most important composers at the English court, writing in a wide variety of sacred and secular styles during his long career from the 1560's until his death in 1623.
The Fantasia was published in Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets … fit for Voyces or Viols (London, 1611), presumably composed earlier. This work is presented here for the first time in 8K video.
Elizabethan viols
Voices of Music is developing programs for two consorts of viols, one from the Elizabethan period (which you will hear tonight) and an early renaissance consort from around the year 1500 to perform works published by Petrucci, the first music publisher, and his contemporaries.
The late renaissance Elizabethan viols are primarily based on the work of John Rose, who was famous by the 1550s for his “vyalls” and other instruments. Although these instruments were from the middle of the century, only the later instruments survive, and it is not known if Rose’s style changed over the years, so these instruments either reflect the practice as early as the 1550s or, more likely, as late as the 1590s, although the changes may have been minor over the years. Notably, the design of the Amati violins from roughly the same time period changed very little. The Rose workshop parallels Elizabeth’s reign as queen, and so these instruments are an excellent choice for this repertory. The English court imported a great many Italian instruments beginning with the reign of Henry VIII, but the Rose instruments were considered preeminent for the viols, even as the lutes and recorders were mainly sourced from Italy and Germany.
For the renaissance ideal, the consort was conceived of as a matched set, and all the instruments played tonight were made by one builder, Wesley Brandt, using similar patterns, techniques and timbers based closely on historical models. The close matching gives the ensemble a unique sound and is essential for consort music.
Another major difference to the baroque instruments is the strings: wire-wound strings emerged circa 1660 and were unknown to the musicians of the renaissance and early 17th century. Without the “overspun” strings the sound of the instrument and its overtones are markedly different, especially in terms of greater transparency, and this enables each individual part in the early English viols to be heard clearly. Importantly, with wire wound strings, bowed instruments are louder in the bass register, but unwound strings have the opposite, softer sound. In addition, there is no register change as the player crosses strings with the bow: all the strings are the same. Lastly, the early English viols had soundboards that were made of very thin, parallel strips of wood that were heated and bent under tension, so they are similar to a drum: this process of tempering and tensioning the soundboard changes the harmonics of the viol.
Fun fact: Voices of Music's CoDirector David Tayler's Ph.D. advisor in musicology was Philip Brett, the editor of the Byrd edition, and author of "William Byrd and his Contemporaries," and David also studied with Joe Kerman, who wrote the Byrd article in the Grove dictionary of music and the book "The Masses and Motets of William Byrd."
#Byrd
Producer: Hanneke van Proosdij
Audio engineer: David Tayler
8K Video: Lloyd Hryciw and Rob Clevenger
Post Production: David Tayler and Andrew Levy
Special thanks to Margaret Cohen.
29 сен 2023
