Made clear on the interior notes but not on the main graphics of this release is that the John Milton involved is not the author of Paradise Lost but his father, a composer and prosperous London scrivener who lived from 1562 to 1647. He also wrote some poetry and composed church music, but this release compiles his complete instrumental output, which was not large. He is joined with another composer of the same era, Martin Peerson, likewise only modestly prolific. The program and notes provide the listeners who already like ...
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Made clear on the interior notes but not on the main graphics of this release is that the John Milton involved is not the author of Paradise Lost but his father, a composer and prosperous London scrivener who lived from 1562 to 1647. He also wrote some poetry and composed church music, but this release compiles his complete instrumental output, which was not large. He is joined with another composer of the same era, Martin Peerson, likewise only modestly prolific. The program and notes provide the listeners who already like viol consort music with a way of engaging with it in more detail: the notes delve into such issues as the purposes for which viol music was written (primarily for the entertainment of amateur adult musicians and for the training of young ones). The pieces by Peerson probably fell into the latter category, and they're simpler than the Milton works, which in addition to a group of fantasias also include an unusually fine example of the English In Nomine genre, which elaborated (why so...
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