The "consort lessons" compiled here by composer and publisher Thomas Morley were for the distinctively English broken consort, which Morley himself brought to the world of Elizabethan court and noble entertainment. It was among the first large heterogenous instrumental ensembles, but its exact composition has been a matter of debate. The Belgian early music group La Caccia, basing its performance partly on a 1591 account of a dinner with the Queen penned by the Duke of Hertford, uses (in the duke's words "lute, pandora ...
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The "consort lessons" compiled here by composer and publisher Thomas Morley were for the distinctively English broken consort, which Morley himself brought to the world of Elizabethan court and noble entertainment. It was among the first large heterogenous instrumental ensembles, but its exact composition has been a matter of debate. The Belgian early music group La Caccia, basing its performance partly on a 1591 account of a dinner with the Queen penned by the Duke of Hertford, uses (in the duke's words "lute, pandora [bandora], base violl, citterne, treble viol, and flute"). The disc is a full-fledged attempt at an authentic performance, with attention to ornamentation practice; the group tries to imagine the works in performance, getting more and more dense and energetic as a piece proceeds. This First Book of Consort Lessons, published by Morley, includes music by Peter Phillips, Richard Alison, John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons, William Byrd, Daniel Bachiler, and an anonymous composer, as well as...
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