After the success of the first fourteen reissues, which restored to the limelight some of the gems of the early music repertory in the catalogues of our labels, here are fourteen new titles to allow listeners to renew acquaintance with further treasures of the Renaissance and Baroque (and even a journey through time thanks to Raphaël Imbert’s album Bach | Coltrane), performed by some of the leading interpreters of the genre; most of these discs won one or more awards on their first release. As with the first series, the artists have been asked to contribute to the booklets, in which, with a few years’ hindsight, they talk about their conception of the works and how they went about recording them. The photographers of the Magnum agency illustrate the covers of the series with their work; this time the common design element is the colour yellow.

On this disc devoted to the lutenist Thomas Dunford, the programme combines lute pieces by Dowland with lute songs for several voices. These songs are certainly among the most frequently recorded works of the Elizabethan era. However, the four-part polyphonic texture is generally reduced to a single voice with lute accompaniment.

The approach adopted on this disc has been to realise the songs in several voices, thus reverting to the practice, widespread at the time, of an intimate ‘chamber’ performance of these pieces. Thus the inspired playing of Thomas Dunford is answered by exceptionally rich polyphony, with the combination of the two offering a Dowland of unprecedented colour and energy.