Second volume of a unique project: the first complete recording of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book is the largest surviving collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean keyboard music, comprising more than 300 works, written by various composers, including such celebrities as John Bull, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons and J P Sweelinck.

This second volume is dedicated to William Byrd, and contains the famous Walsingham variations and the variations on the popular tune �'The Carman�'s Whistle�', music of great virtuosity and ingenuity.

A great achievement of Pieter�-Jan Belder, one of the most respected and frequently recorded keyboard (harpsichord, clavichord, virginal, organ, hammerklavier) players of today. His recordings of Bach, Rameau, CPE Bach and Scarlatti (complete Sonatas!) have met with great critical acclaim in the international press.

Belder plays a unique original Ruckers instrument from 1604, the details of which are described in the extensive liner notes in the booklet.

Contents:
CD 1
1. Walsingham, MB8
2. Prelude in A Minor, MB12
3. Fantasia in A Minor, MB13
4. Fantasia in G, MB62
5. The Carman’s Whistle, MB36
6. The Queen’s Alman, MB10
7. Tregian’s Ground, MB20
8. Lady Monteagle’s Pavan, MB75
9. The woods so wild, MB85
10. Lachrymae Pavan, MB54 (Dowland, arr. Byrd)
11. Galliard, MB55 (Harding, arr. Byrd)
12. John, come kiss me now, MB81
13. Pavan in A Minor, MB14a
14. Galliard in A Minor, MB14b
15. Sellinger’s Round, MB84
Total time: 74’46

CD 2
1. Pavan in G Minor, MB4a
2. Galliard in G Minor, MB4b
3. The Hunt’s Up, MB40
4. Ut re mi fa sol la, MB64
5. Pavan in D Minor, MB52a
6. Galliard in D Minor, MB52b
7. The Maiden Song, MB82
8. Fantasia in C, MB25
9. Quadran Pavan, MB70a
10. The Quadran Galliard, MB70b
11. All in a garden green, MB56
12. Pavan in G, MB71a
13. Galliard in G, MB71b
14. Pavan in C Minor, MB29a
15. Galliard in C Minor, MB29b
16. Rowland, MB7
17. Pavan in G: Canon 2 in 1, MB74
18. Pavan in A Minor, MB99a (Holborne, ?arr. Byrd)
19. Galliard in A Minor, MB99c
20. Lavolta, MB91
Total time: 73’42