obert Dow’s beautiful set of 5 partbooks is a treasure trove for lovers of Byrd, White and Tallis. But did you know that these books also contain other musical treasures from the 1580s that were written abroad? They were brought to England, passed from hand to hand, and carefully entered into personal music collections. Apparently, the music of Philip van Wilder, Alfonso Ferrabosco and Orlando di Lasso must have appealed to Mr. Dow, who collected and preserved their songs along with those of their English counterparts. Trace the journey of the repertoire and discover the influence of foreign musicians at the English court and the music they brought with them.
Brigitte Gasser, Filipa Meneses, Tabea Schwartz – Renaissance gamba
Giovanna Baviera – Renaissance gamba, Gesang
Caroline Ritchie – Renaissance gamba; direction
Elizabeth Rumsey – Concept
Eine von Dows lateinischen Inschriften: «Galli cantunt Itali caprizant Germani ululant Angli iubilant» (Die Franzosen singen, die Italiener meckern, die Deutschen heulen, die Engländer jauchzen.); Dow-Stimmbücher, Oxford, Christ Church, Mus. 986 (Contratenor), S. 50
Why I’ll be there …
David Fallows
In the age-old crackpot fantasies about William Shakespeare being just a pseudonym for somebody far grander (the favourite candidate these days is the Earl of Oxford), the main arguments are often that only a rich tourist could know all the places in Italy and France about which Shakespeare writes with such confidence. Well: a glance at the Dow partbooks gives a good answer to that. Alongside his beautiful copies of music by Byrd and his English contemporaries, Robert Dow included lots of music by non-English composers, some like Ferrabosco and van Wilder actually living in England but others who had no reason ever to visit England. The music reached England through a variety of channels, but the main point is that the music was known and appreciated.
We obviously have to laugh at the ascription mistakes Dow made, crediting works by Verdelot and Maillard to Christopher Tye, and crediting works by Vincenzo Ruffo to a certain Francesco Mocheni (twice: who he? no idea). But all the same this concert gives a wonderful glimpse of what an educated Englishman knew and loved among the music of his overseas contemporaries. There’s obviously lots more copied by other English musicians of the time, among them John Baldwyn and Francis Tregian; but this is a side of English music that we rarely hear explored.
Barfüsserkirche
Historical Museum Basel
Barfüsserkirche
Historisches Museum Basel
Barfüsserkirche
