Giles Farnaby (1560-1640)
Alman, CXLVII
Grounde, CCXL
Bony sweet Robin, CXXVIII
A Gigge, CCLXVII
Fantasia, CCXXXIV
Prélude, CCXLVI
Fantaisie, CCVIII
The flatt Pavan, CCLXXXIV
Fantaisie, CCXCVI
The L. Zouches Maske, CCXXXIX
Fantaisie, CCXXIX
Tower Hill, CCXVL
Fantaisie "Ay me, poore heart", CCXXXIII
Daphne, CXII
Fantaisie, CCXXXVIII
Rosseters Galliard, CCLXXXIII
Walter Erle's Paven, CCXXV
Spagnioletta, LIV
Up tails all, CCXLII
Put up thy Dagger, Jemy, CXXVII
Why aske you, CCLXXXVI

Richard Farnaby (1594-1623)
A Duo, CCXLVIII
Nobodyes Gigge, CXLVII
Hanskin, CCXCVII
Fayne would I wedd, CXCVII

William Byrd (1543-1623)
Pavane "Delight", CCLXXVII
Galiarda, CCLXXVIII
Miserere a3, CLXXVI
Miserere a4, CLXXVII
Callino Casturame, CLVIII
The Earl of Oxford's Marche, CCLIX
Pavane "Bray", XCI
Gaillarde, XCII
Fortune, LXV
Alman, LXV
Alman, CLXIII
Gaillarde, CLXIV
Monsieur's Alman, LXI
Monsieur's Alman Variatio, LXII
Alman, CLVI
A GIgg, CLXXXI
Pavane, CCLVI
Ut, mi, re, CII
Wolsey's Wilde, CLVII
Prélude, XXIV
Alman, LXIII
Corranto, CCXLI
Pescodd Time, CCLXXVI
The Ghost, CLXII
O Mistris myune, LXVI
Sir John Gray's Galliard, CXCI
Gipseis Round, CCXVI
Malt's come down, CL

Anonyme
A Medley, CLXXIII
Corranto Lady Riche, CCLXV
Heaven and Earth, CV
Prélude, CLI
A Toye, CCLXVIII
Why aske you, CLXI
Allmanda, CCLXXIV
Prélude, CXX
Corranto, CCLXVI

Pieter-Jan Belder, clavecin

Le Fitzwilliam Virginal Book est le plus important recueil de musique pour le virginal ou le clavecin en Angleterre, de l’époque élisabéthaine (fin du XVI° s., début du XVII° s.), qu’on a appelé « l’âge d’or » du clavier. Il comporte 297 pièces de compositeurs pour la plupart anglais, ou plus rarement italiens ou néerlandais, 44 restant anonymes, le tout constituant un recueil riche d’invention et de contrastes. Pieter-Jan Belder a choisi de regrouper dans le présent volume des œuvres de Farnaby (père et fils), Byrd et quelques anonymes. Farnaby se caractérise souvent par des pièces courtes et dansantes, dont certaines destinées à accompagner des maskes théâtraux. Byrd, lui, est un compositeur raffiné, auteur de Variations très imaginatives et parfois d’œuvres évoquant la liturgie (Miserere…) et qui pourraient se jouer à l’orgue. Dans le CD 3, on entend un instrument rare : le muselaar, sorte d’épinette au son rond et doux se rapprochant de celui du luth, reposant de la rutilance des clavecins. L’interprète est un musicien complet, néerlandais, élève de Bob van Asperen. A l’écoute du présent enregistrement, on est frappé par sa liberté expressive, toujours de bon aloi et sa fine réalisation des ornements. (Jean-Paul Lécot)

Now into its seventh volume, Pieter-Jan Belder’s series continues to uncover more works from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. In this volume he turns his attention to the works of father and son Giles and Richard Farnaby, William Byrd, and selected anonymous works. The book and its manuscripts provide us with an insight into Elizabethan and early Jacobean socio-cultural life. After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 by Henry VIII followed by Mary Tudor’s blood-soaked crackdown, it was clear that being a Protestant in Tudor England was risky business. Once Queen Elizabeth took the throne in 1558, she established a moderate form of Protestantism and halted the campaign of religious persecution. But the damage was already done, and many composers decided to steer clear of religion altogether and focus their efforts on secular music. (It is thought Farnaby was probably a Puritan sympathiser and Byrd hailed from a protestant background, although he switched to Catholicism later in life.) The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book is a vital record of such works. Compiled in the late 1700s, the book today resides in a dedicated museum in Cambridge. The first section of this release surveys Giles Farnaby’s musical output. Bony Sweet Robin is a setting of a popular Renaissance tune and Sir Walter Raleigh once in a letter to Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester wrote that Dudley was in the Queen’s favour, describing him as ‘her Sweet Robin’. This graceful arrangement is Continental in its nature and similar to the Italian madrigal, with a conjunct and cantabile melody line and through-composed structure. As for Richard Farnaby, the four pieces recorded here are all that survives of his output. Nobodyes jig is his best-known work; a playful dance which requires a skilled performer to successfully execute the fast-paced polyphonic music. The final part features works by Byrd as well as anonymous works including almans, pavans, and keyboard arrangements of lute pieces and popular ballads. Pieter-Jan Belder is a musicologist as well as a polished performer, and his in-depth study of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book makes for a highly informed performance practice. In this release, Belder has elected to play a harpsichord by Adlam Burnett after Ruckers and the muselar by Theo de Haas after Ruckers. In their entirety, the seven volumes so far released by Brilliant Classics bring this fascinating book to life and open up an exciting historical soundscape for everyone to discover and enjoy.