Track-listing:

John BENNET All creatures now are merry-minded
Michael CAVENDISH Come, gentle swains
Thomas WEELKES A Vesta was from Latmos hill descending
Edward JOHNSON Come, blessed Byrd
Thomas MORLEY Hard by a crystal fountain, Arise, awake, awake
John HOLMES Thus Bonny-Boots the birthday celebrated
Ellis MORLEY Round about her charret
Michael EAST Hence, stars, too dim of light
Daniel NORCOMBE With angel’s face and brightness
John MUNDY Lightly she whipped o’er the dales
Ellis GIBBONS Long live fair Oriana
John HILTON Fair Oriana, beauty’s queen
George MARSON The nymphs and shepherds danced
Richard CARLTON Calm was the air and clear the sky
Richard NICOLSON Sing, shepherds all…
Thomas TOMKINS The fauns and satyrs tripping
William COBBOLD With wreaths of rose and laurel
John FARMER Fair nymphs I heard one telling
John WILBYE The lady Oriana
Thomas HUNT Hark! Did ye ever hear so sweet a singing?
John MILTON Fair Orion, in the morn
George KIRBYE Bright Phoebus greets most clearly
Robert JONES Fair Oriana, seeming to wink at folly Fair
John LISLEY Cytherea presents her doves

A collection of 25 madrigals from 23 different composers, from the famous to the obscure, make up this Elizabethan curiosity, published in 1601 by Thomas Morley. A musical dedication to Queen Elizabeth 1, The Triumphs of Oriana displays the talents of English songwriters, long-overshadowed by their European counterparts, conjuring up an image of an idealised and mythical England of old.

Started in 1968 by six Choral Scholars from King’s College Cambridge, the King’s Singers quickly became a prominent musical force in the UK.The rest of the world soon followed so that today the group’s engagements are spread throughout the four corners of the globe. Since their debut concert the King’s Singers have commissioned works from many well-known composers including Krystof Penderecki, Luciano Berio, Peter Maxwell Davies, Ned Rorem and Gyorgy Ligeti. This branch of their repertoire now comprises well over 200 pieces. But above all it is their simple enjoyment of what they do that has captured the imagination of the public all over the world and kept the King’s Singers at the top of their game for three and a half decades. As The Times put it, they are "still unmatched for their musicality and sheer ability to entertain".