Search - William Byrd, Michael Praetorius, John Whitfield :: The King's Delight: 17th Century Ballads for Voice & Violin Band - Paul O'Dette / The King's Noyse / David Douglass

A "folksy", crossover approach to 17th century English music

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 04/29/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The King's Delight": 17th Century Ballads for Voice and Violin Band by William Byrd, Michael Praetorius, John Whitfield, Johann Schultz, Samuel Scheidt, William Brade, Thomas Simpson and various anonymi, including traditional pieces arranged by David Douglass. Performed by The King's Noyse (Ellen Hargis, soprano; David Douglass and Robert Mealy, renaissance violins; Jane Starkman and Scott Metcalf, renaissance violas; Emily Walhout, bass violin) and Paul O'Dette, lute and cittern.

Recorded in November, 1992, at the Campion Center, Boston, Massachussetts. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907101. Total time: 72'43".



Although the music here is highly entertaining in itself, this CD should really only be heard after studying Jack Ashworth's informative booklet notes, and preferably also with some knowledge of 16th and 17th century English music. This period in English musical history is generally associated with the "viol consort" in which a group of differently-sized "viols" or "violas da gamba" played together with the musicians sitting around a set of notes, sometimes accompanied by a recorder or voice. This kind of music is quite ethereal but probably does not reflect the reality of life in early 17th century England (the epoque of Shakespeare, Webster and Jonson). In recent years it has been established that not only the nasal-sounding "viol", but also the violin was played "in consort", and various musicians have gone about re-creating this sound. Among the first were The Parley of Instruments in England and The King's Noyse in the USA, who here present their first-ever disk containing so-called "broadside ballads", interspersed with dance tunes, some of which have been delivered down to us in manuscript, others of which are of more traditional nature and have been arranged by David Douglass for this particular variety of consort. There are also three solos by that miracle of lute-playing, Paul O'Dette, using a different instrument each time. The effect of the whole is quite "folksy", approaching in some ways a "crossover" approach. The gentle strings of the instrumental pieces are captivating, while Ellen Hargis does a great job of making her ballads sound as they might have done in a 17th century tavern, including using a regional English accent. Her singing is, of course, not always "beautiful", with some quite harsh leaps and the recording venue producing some pretty sharp echoing at louder points - not something everyone will appreciate, but definitely contributing to the "authenticity" of the recording, insofar as there can be such a thing with music from such a distant period. I purchased this CD because it was awarded "Disk of the Month" status in a German-language Early Music magazine."