William Lawes: The Royal Consort

Product Description Described as one of the greatest collections of ensemble dance music ever composed, Lawes Royal Consort is full of astounding moments of striking musical invention. Guest musicians Elizabeth Kenny on theorbo, Emily Ashton on tenor viol and organist Daniel Hyde join Phantasm to honour the celebrated English Renaissance composer. This sublime collection boasts a range and depth of expression, which excites both mind and body through Lawes startlingly individual pieces. This recording is the first complete recording of Lawes version of the Royal Consorts for four viols and theorbo. Phantasm, under the direction of Laurence Dreyfus, presents a passionate and insightful look into this adventurous music. The result is a rich and warm recording of technical brilliance that takes the listener deep into the harmonically rich world of Lawes. Phantasms previous recording of Lawes, Consorts to the Organ, was both a Gramophone Awards finalist and a BBC Music Magazine Award nominee in 2013. Phantasm has been widely acclaimed for its previous recordings with Linn: its 2011 recording of William Byrd was named Disc of the Month’ by BBC Music and its 2009 Linn debut of music by John Ward was described as stunning’ by Gramophone. Critics have described the ensemble and its recordings as ‘intoxicating’, ‘revelatory’, ‘electrifying’ and ‘interpretations pervaded by a truly burning spirit’. The award-winning ensemble has been applauded across the globe for its moving performances and is recognised as the most exciting viol consort active on the world scene today. Phantasms international members (from Britain, Finland and the US) are based in Oxford and have toured extensively throughout Europe, North America, and East Asia. Review “Gramophone Award-winners, category finalists on many other occasions, Phantasm continue to excel. The Royal Consort, the first complete performance of the original versions, confirms the status.” –Gramophone Editor’s Choice, June 2015 “Phantasm’s playing brims with imaginative fantasy and dance-like momentum…Elizabeth Kenny’s theorbo continuo realisations are a model of tasteful clarity. Concise individual pieces often display rare sophistication, such as the seemingly floating Paven that begins No 9 and a song-like Galliard in No 2. A vividly accentuated ‘Morriss’ folk dance follows hot on the heels of an elegant Corant (No 6) without any hint of formulaic articulation. Strong doses of Jacobean melancholy are abundant in a few longer pieces such as the Paven in D minor that starts No 2; this is one of several pavans that quotes from Dowland’s Lacrimae but the inclusion of an extra short set for four-part viols dating from earlier in Lawes’s career suggests that Dowland’s influence cast a subtler shadow later on.” –Gramophone Choice, June 2015