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An Elizabethan Christmas: Byrd, Holborne, Gibbons, Peerson, Weelkes

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Label: Signum

Cat No: SIGCD680

Barcode: 0635212068021

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Christmas

Release Date: 22nd October 2021

About

Viol consort Fretwork and mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston explore the more reflective and sombre Christmas celebrations of Elizabethan England, in a collection of works by William Byrd, Anthony Holborne, Orlando Gibbons and Martin Peerson.

With celebrations confined strictly to the 12 days from Christmas Eve to Epiphany, the preceding Advent was regarded as a time of religious introspection, with music composed to mark both fasting and feasting. Byrd’s consort songs for voice and five viols encompass this range, from the joyous Out of the Orient Crystal Skies - ending with an exuberant ‘Falantidingdido’, a word whose meaning is lost to history - to his Lullaby, a ‘song of sadnes and pietie’ that became one of Byrd’s most enduringly famous songs

In 2021, Fretwork celebrate their 35th Anniversary. In the past three and a half decades they have explored the core repertory of great English consort music, from Taverner to Purcell, and made classic recordings against which others are judged. In addition to this, Fretwork have become known as pioneers of contemporary music for viols, having commissioned over 40 new works.

Acclaimed for her musical interpretation, presence and “warmly distinctive tone” (The Telegraph), Helen Charlston is quickly cementing herself as a key performer in the next generation of British singers. Helen won first prize in the 2018 Handel Singing Competition and was a finalist in the Hurn Court Opera Competition and the Grange Festival International Singing Competition.

Sound/Video

Paused

1

Byrd - Out of the Orient Crystal Skies
2

Holborne - Pavan
3

Holborne - As it Fell on Holie Eve
4

Byrd - From Virgin's Womb - Rejoice, Rejoice
5

Holborne - The Cradle
6

Holborne - Lullabie
7

Byrd - Lullaby
8

Gibbons - Fantazy No.1 a 4 For Ye Great Dooble Bass
9

Byrd - An Earthly Tree - Cast off All Doubtful Care
10

Peerson - Attendite
11

Peerson - Upon my Lap, my Sovereign Sits
12

Weelkes - To Shorten Winter's Sadnesse
13

Gibbons - Fantazy No.2 a 4 For Ye Great Dooble Bass
14

Anonymous - Sweet was the Song the Virgin Sang
15

Holborne - The New-Yeares Gift
16

Holborne - Heigh Ho Holiday
17

Byrd - O God that Guides the Cheerful Sun

Europadisc Review

The season of Christmas has always been one of joy tinged with reflection, and this year, as last, the latter quality is more in evidence than usual. Such times seem to invite a more contemplative approach to the festive period, as was common practice before Christmas became overburdened with ever more aggressive consumerism. In this context An Elizabethan Christmas from acclaimed viol consort Fretwork (which this year marked its 35th anniversary) really hits the mark. The repertoire is drawn from the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, and encompasses not just consort music but seasonal-themed consort songs in which the group is joined by the young mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston.

At its heart lies William Byrd's famous Lulla, lullaby my sweet little Baby, a cradle song to the infant Jesus - at over 12 minutes, comfortably the longest piece on the disc. This appeared in Byrd's 1588 publication of Psalmes, Sonets, & songs of sadnes and pietie, which Fretwork recently recorded with the vocal group Alamire on the Inventa label, and it's fascinating to compare that even more expansive reading from the soft-hued mezzo of Martha McLorinan with Helen Charlston's brighter-edged account, glowing like a jewelled centrepiece for this Signum release.

Charlston brings that same distinctive timbre to the other vocal items here, including four more consort songs by Byrd: Out of the Orient Crystal Skies (which makes a striking opener), From Virgin's Womb, An Earthly Tree (where she shares the limelight with alto Amy Lyddon), and O God that Guides the Cheerful Sun, which provides a suitably glowing close. All but the first of these end with more voices joining in for an uplifting closing chorus.

The other vocal works on the album are the perky To Shorten Winter's Sadnesse by Thomas Weelkes (which exploits Charlston's bright top register, as well as her lower range in the nonsense refrain), the sparkling, anonymous Sweet was the Song the Virgin Sang, and Martin Peerson's deeply affecting Upon my Lap, my Sovereign Sits, with its multi-voice refrain of 'Sing lullaby, my little boy, / Sing lullaby, mine only joy!'

Between these vocal items, Fretwork weave a supporting frame of pieces for viol consort, including a series of dances by Byrd's close contemporary Anthony Holborne with such seasonal titles as As it Fell on Holie Eve, The Cradle and the appropriately toe-tapping Heigh-Ho Holiday, an imitative Attendite by Peerson, and Orlando Gibbons's two Fantazies 'for Ye Great Dooble Bass' featuring a bass viol tuned a fourth lower than usual, which lends a greater resonance to the music, especially in the slower central sections.

Sumptuously recorded in St Magdalen Church, Sherborne, Gloucestershire by Adrian Hunter, An Elizabethan Christmas is a feast for the ears, speaking eloquently of a more meditative age, but one in which joyous celebration still played an important part. With the players of Fretwork sounding as sweet and exquisite as any cathedral choir, and sensitively balanced against the voice, it makes for a refreshing change from the usual Christmas fare.

If, however, you still hanker for a choral Christmas, the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea serve up some fascinating rarities on their latest release under William Vann. Entitled An Oxford Christmas, it presents 22 mostly little-known arrangements (including some alternative settings) made by Ralph Vaughan Williams for The Oxford Book of Carols (1928). Splendidly varied and with superb support from organist Joshua Ryan, the disc is distinguished by radiant singing that need fear no comparison with the most famous English cathedral and collegiate choirs, and sure pacing and shaping from Vann. For those who enjoy a more enterprising choice of repertoire while still with a traditional feel, this latest release from the Vaughan Williams Society’s Albion Records would make a most welcome festive gift.

Reviews

... tracks like Byrd’s ‘Out of the Orient Crystal Skies’ and Weelkes’s ‘To Shorten Winter’s Sadnesse’ show voice and instruments interweaving in seamless expressivity. ... All are played with Fretwork’s typical attunement to the sensibilities of the Elizabethan period. Terry Blain

BBC Music Magazine Christmas 2021

The songs are beautifully delivered by the mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, who sings with firm yet confiding tone and lends the same sense of potentially endless expansion to her lines as do the viol players. ... There’s a feeling of consolation here that you can hunker down with, however you’re feeling about the festive season this year. Erica Jeal

The Guardian 9 December 2021