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Product Description
Product Description
The exceptional viol quartet Phantasm, who won a Gramophone Award for their Avie debut disc of consorts by Orlando Gibbons, return with an equally ravishing recording of the repertoire in which they excel, from the golden age of Elizabethan England. Four distinct musical personalities - or "temperaments" - are represented: the dissonant Robert Parsons, the cool Ferrabosco the Elder, the warm and sanguine Thomas Tallis, and the polar opposites of ecstasy and melancholy of William Byrd.
Phantasm have re-defined the art of viol playing. Inspired by the great 20th-century string quartets, the striking unity of their ensemble and suave sonorities are unmatched by any other viol ensemble playing today.
Critical acclaim for Phantasm and Orlando Gibbons Consorts for Viols:
"Phantasm is truly in a class of its own." - Gramophone
"Some of the most vital and unashamedly passionate viol-playing around today." - BBC Music Magazine
"This is viol playing of quite exceptional quality." - The Daily Telegraph
"An exquisitely scaled performance which brings out, with great subtlety, the intricate yet robust qualities of Gibbon's writing...[Phantasm play] like angels singing." - BBC World Affairs correspondent John Simpson, championing Phantasm's Gramophone Award winning Gibbons album
Personnel:
Phantasm with Asako Morikawa (tenor and bass viols), Emilia Benjamin (bass viol)
Product Description
Byrd : Missa à 4, Queen's Goodnight, Pavane, Gaillarde - Tallis : A solfing Song, In nomine... - Ferrabosco : Pavane, Fantasia, Sur la Rousée, In nomine... / Phantasm (W. Gillepsie, J. Manson & M. Luolajan-Mikkola..., violes), dir. (& viole) Laurence Dreyfus
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a wonderful disc of viol music from the 16th Century by four English composers: Tallis, Ferrabosco, Parsons and Byrd. The conceit of the disc is that each composer represents one of Hippocrates's four temperaments, and while this is a bit tenuous (as Laurence Dreyfuss recognises in his excellent notes), the pieces here do show the great variety of composition for viol consort at the time and form a delightful and engaging programme. They are tuneful, rich and a real source of pleasure. I particularly enjoyed the rather bold stroke of playing the movements from Byrd's magnificent Mass for Four Voices on viols, interspersed with the other pieces. The Mass is a true masterpiece and the music works wonderfully when played in this context.
Phantasm themselves are fantastic. They are now well established as a world-class ensemble and their technical brilliance, beauty of tone and obvious love of and empathy with this music makes their performance a joy. The recorded sound is excellent, beautifully capturing the full range of tone from deep resonance to ethereal lightness.
In short, this is a cracking disc which has given me huge pleasure and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
(I would also warmly recommend Phantasm's other discs of English viol music by Gibbons Gibbons: Consorts for Viols /Phantasm, Jenkins Jenkins: Six-Part Consorts /Phantasm; John Jenkins - Five-Part Consorts and Ward Ward: Consort Music for Five and Six Viols /Phantasm)
Phantasm themselves are fantastic. They are now well established as a world-class ensemble and their technical brilliance, beauty of tone and obvious love of and empathy with this music makes their performance a joy. The recorded sound is excellent, beautifully capturing the full range of tone from deep resonance to ethereal lightness.
In short, this is a cracking disc which has given me huge pleasure and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
(I would also warmly recommend Phantasm's other discs of English viol music by Gibbons Gibbons: Consorts for Viols /Phantasm, Jenkins Jenkins: Six-Part Consorts /Phantasm; John Jenkins - Five-Part Consorts and Ward Ward: Consort Music for Five and Six Viols /Phantasm)
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
2 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
phantastic
6 Jun 2008
By richtrophicherbs
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
First rate, like everything I've ever heard by Phantasm. And very revelatory of the contrasts between the composers (music of this period, and music for viols in general, is often considered to be a bit samey).
5.0 out of 5 stars
A terrific disc
25 Feb 2012
By Sid Nuncius
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Audio CD
This is a wonderful disc of viol music from the 16th Century by four English composers: Tallis, Ferrabosco, Parsons and Byrd. The conceit of the disc is that each composer represents one of Hippocrates's four temperaments, and while this is a bit tenuous (as Laurence Dreyfuss recognises in his excellent notes), the pieces here do show the great variety of composition for viol consort at the time and form a delightful and engaging programme. They are tuneful, rich and a real source of pleasure. I particularly enjoyed the rather bold stroke of playing the movements from Byrd's magnificent Mass for Four Voices on viols, interspersed with the other pieces. The Mass is a true masterpiece and the music works wonderfully well played in his context.
Phantasm themselves are fantastic. They are now well established as a world-class ensemble and their technical brilliance, beauty of tone and obvious love of and empathy with this music makes their performance a joy. The recorded sound is excellent, beautifully capturing the full range of tone from deep resonance to ethereal lightness.
In short, this is a cracking disc which has given me huge pleasure and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
(I would also warmly recommend Phantasm's other discs of English viol music by Gibbons Gibbons: Consorts for Viols /Phantasm, Jenkins Jenkins: Six-Part Consorts /Phantasm; John Jenkins - Five-Part Consortsand Ward Ward: Consort Music for Five and Six Viols /Phantasm)
Phantasm themselves are fantastic. They are now well established as a world-class ensemble and their technical brilliance, beauty of tone and obvious love of and empathy with this music makes their performance a joy. The recorded sound is excellent, beautifully capturing the full range of tone from deep resonance to ethereal lightness.
In short, this is a cracking disc which has given me huge pleasure and I recommend it wholeheartedly.
(I would also warmly recommend Phantasm's other discs of English viol music by Gibbons Gibbons: Consorts for Viols /Phantasm, Jenkins Jenkins: Six-Part Consorts /Phantasm; John Jenkins - Five-Part Consortsand Ward Ward: Consort Music for Five and Six Viols /Phantasm)
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5.0 out of 5 stars
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