Gibbons: Cries and Fancies

Cries and Fancies
Gibbons: Fantasias, In Nomines and The Cries of London
Fretwork
Virgin Classics 90849
Virgin Veritas 59191
Virgin Veritas 45144

Contents:

  1. Fantasia (à 6) No. 3
  2. Fantasia (à 3) No. 3
  3. Fantasia (à 3) No. 2
  4. Fantasia (à 6) No. 1
  5. Go from my window (à 6)
  6. Prelude and Ground (organ)
  7. Galliard (à 3)
  8. Fantasia 'Great Dooble Bass' (à 3) No. 1
  9. Fantasia 'Great Dooble Bass' (à 4) No. 1
  10. Fantasia (à 2) No. 5
  11. Fantasia (à 3) No. 8
  12. Fantasia (à 3) No. 9
  13. Fantasia (à 6) No. 2
  14. Fantasia 'Great Dooble Bass' (à 3) No. 4
  15. Fantasia (organ)
  16. In Nomine (à 5) No. 2
  17. The Cry of London, Part I (voices, consort)
  18. The Cry of London, Part II (voices, consort)
  19. In Nomine (à 4)

Performers: Wendy Gillespie, Richard Campbell, Julia Hodgson, William Hunt, Richard Boothby, Elizabeth Liddle, Paul Nicholson (organ), Red Byrd Vocal Ensemble (John Potter, Richard Wistreich, Sue Bickley, Linda Hirst, Harvey Brough)

Playing time: 68'

Recording date: January 1989

This disc contains a fine selection of Gibbons' consort music played on viols, plus a couple of organ tracks and the unique Cries of London.

The next recording with the present ensemble devoted to similar repertory:

The Cries of London
Theatre of Voices - Paul Hillier / Fretwork
Harmonia Mundi USA 90 7214

A couple of other recordings devoted to Cries:

The Cries of London
Les Sacqueboutiers
Ambroisie 9965
The Cries of London / The Cruel Mother
Deller Consort et al. - Alfred Deller
Vanguard Classics 5072

Gibbons and Byrd are the two most highly regarded English consort composers of the later Renaissance. A recording prepared about this same time by the present ensemble devoted to Byrd:

Byrd: Complete Consort Music
Fretwork
Virgin Veritas 45031

Although we have chosen to place the dividing line between the Renaissance and Baroque periods directly after Gibbons, the consort music of William Lawes and John Jenkins in the following generation is directly continuous with that of Gibbons.

Another interesting point concerning the present program is that the opening 6-part fantasia is apparently based upon a 3-part sinfonia by the Italian composer Salomone Rossi, the ninth sinfonia of his third book. The correspondence is quite striking, although I have never seen it noted before.

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Todd M. McComb