Selection of Fantasies a 2, a 3, a 4 and a 6
Selection of In Nomines
The hunt’s up (Peascod time)
Pavan and galliard Lord Salisbury
The silver swanne
Pavan and galliard a 6
Go from my window
O Lord, in thy wrath rebuke me not
Hosanna to the Son of David
Phantasm
Laurence Dreyfus treble viol, director
Emilia Benjamin treble viol
Jonathan Manson treble viol
Mikko Perkola tenor viol
Markku Luolajan-Mikkola bass viol
Wigmore Hall, London, 24 October 2016
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Orlando Gibbons was famously championed by eccentric Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. For Gould, Gibbons and Wagner sat alongside eachother in their ability to make the spine tingle with "intensity and predictability".
Perhaps Beethoven and his late string quartets is the better comparison, for Gibbons had a genius for contrapuntal writing, wrote in an equivalent medium, and a consort of viols revealed itself to be as supple, fluid and beguiling as a string quartet.
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| Phantasm |
Starting with two viols, more were added until we reached an impressive first half climax with Three Fantasias a 6. With Phantasm as our guide, we were drawn into the counterpoint, moments of moonlit stasis, and the constantly shifting patterns of melody.
No-one ever said period instruments were good at staying in tune. 10 of the 100 minutes of music consisted of long tuning sessions between sets of pieces. Thankfully even this could be enjoyed for the sheer beauty of sound these viols produced.
The introduction of more melody-led items such as The Silver Swanne towards the end demonstrated the more extrovert character of some of Gibbons' pieces. But it was the extended ruminations of the Fantasias that stayed in the memory. Distant reminders of the extraordinary achievement of English music in the Renaissance.
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