An original Decca recording of the soprano, Jennifer Vyvyan, in English song repertoire, coupled with traditional folksongs with another much-loved English singer of the 1950s and 60s, Norma Procter. In the August 1953 issue of Opera magazine, the editor looked back on outstanding vocal achievements in the preceding season of opera. Drawing largely from stagings […]

First issued by Argo in 1969 under the title ‘Elizabethan Words and Music’, this anthology of madrigals, poetry and pieces for lute is a further reissue by Eloquence from the Purcell Consort of Voices. ‘Metaphysical Tobacco’ (480 7740) is another reissue as part of ‘The Tudors’, an Eloquence series which focuses on the composers who made […]

It was common from medieval times to think of the Arts as female; in most European languages the words for them are feminine, and in pictures too they were represented as heavenly ladies, each carrying some appropriate object, and often attended by the male figures of her most famous earthly servants. The frontispiece chosen by […]

Precursor to the Baroque era, the Renaissance period in music is generally placed around 1430-1600. This collection brings together both ‘learned’ as well as ‘dance’ music and interspersing the two forms on this compilation encapsulates the spirit of this rich period, stretching from anonymous compositions to the late works of William Byrd with their close […]

Anthony Rooley writes: ‘“Amorous Dialogues” perfectly describes this unusual repertoire – although the variations on the theme of erotic love familiar to all of us tells the basic story of amatory exploits, desires and dreams in fresh ways. For example, can we be expected to believe that “He” doesn’t know what a kiss is and […]