iQuintEssential
 Discography














Elisa is the fayrest Quene Elisa is the fayrest Quene

In 1558 the hopes and dreams of the English people for a better society, after the ravages of the reign of Queen Mary, were intertwined with their aspirations for the new Tudor monarch, Elizabeth. Over the next forty-five years she was to prove herself one of the most able of the Tudors, securing both international respect and the affection of her subjects. Elizabeth I lived and ruled at a time when England was experiencing the beginning of its growh from provincial nation into world empire. The programme recorded here aims to illuminate a small part of the rich tapestry that was Elizabethan music-making, namely the music of the cornetts, sackbuts, the solo voice, and the Queen's own instruments, the lute and the keyboard. The disc takes its title from a song by Edward Johnson who is represented alongside such other well known composers as William Byrd, John Dowland, Antony Holborne, John Bull and John Wilbye. Dances by the enterprising composer-publishers Pierre Attaignant and Claude Gervaise fit naturally within the programme, as does a pair of dances by Augustine Bassano, member of a numberous Italian immigrant family which left its mark on the court's musical life for over a century.

Track List

[1]  Various Suite of five Galliards [7.51]
[2]  Edward Johnson Elisa is the fayrest Quene, Verse 1 [1.08]
[3]  Edward Johnson Come againe, sweet Nature's treasure [1.50]
[4]  Edward Johnson Elisa is the fayrest Quene, Verse 2 [1.10]
[5]  William Byrd Fantasia ('A Lesson of Voluntarie') [2.41]
[6]  John Dowland Come again, sweet love doth now invite [3.55]
[7]  Robert Parsons In nomine [4.51]
[8]  John Dowland Come away, come, sweet love [4.11]
[9]  John Coprario Fantasia [4.12]
[10]  Francis Cutting Divisions on 'Walsingham' [3.12]
[11]  Antony Holborne Pavan [3.47]
[12]  Antony Holborne Galliard. Lullabie [3.42]
[13]  Antony Holborne Almaine. The Honey-Suckle [2.52]
[14]  John Bull Chromatic Pavan [3.19]
[15]  John Bull Chromatic Galliard [3.46]
[16]  Augustine Bassano Pavana [3.21]
[17]  Augustine Bassano Galiarda [3.13]
[18]  John Wilbye Sweet Love, if thou wilt gaine [3.08]
[19]  Various Suite of Almands [2.39]

Discography