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Thomas
Morley's "Nancie"
is a fine example
of the
unproblematical,
playful aspects of
virginal music. It
is a loose set of
variations on an
easy-going folk
song, the second
being particularly
richly embellished
in the bass.
Entirely different
aspects of this
music, however,
are displayed by
the Pavana
Chromatica
ascribed to
William Tistall.
Its subtitle,
"Mrs. Katherin
Tregians Pavan",
suggests its
dedication to a
musical lady of
society, probably
a relative of
Francis Tregian,
who was imprisoned
as a catholic and
as son of a
banished "enemy of
the state" and
compiled the
Fitzwilliam
Virginal Book, the
most comprehensive
and important
collection of
virginal music,
from which most of
the pieces on this
record have been
taken. The rich
and bold
chromaticism of
the work, already
indicated by the
title, is marched
by its character,
which is entirely
serious, even
melancholy, and
thus in keeping
with the spirit of
the age which was
particularly
inclined towards
the humour' of
melancholy,
pressimism and
religious
despondency.
"The Duchesse of
Brunswick's Toye"
by John Bull,
probably the
greatest
virginalist of the
age, truly is a
"toy" - a delicate
musical plaything,
evidently being
based on a song
melody, as the
title "Most sweet
and fair", found
in some of the
sources, would
seem to suggest.
The two tantasias
that follow
illustrate the
wide musical field
that can be
covered by the
designation
"fantasy".
Morley's work is a
genuine fantasia
in the modern
sense of the word,
in the style of a
free
improvisation.
John Bull's
Hexachord Fantasy
is, on the other
hand, extremely
strict and complex
in its structure.
William Byrd's
Pavan and Galliard
are, like the
pavan by Tisdall,
laid out in
ternary form with
varied repeats,
the pavan is a
melancholy,
meditative
"characteristic
piece", the
galliard in
energic dance
rhythm. The two
pieces ascribed to
Randall pay homage
to that age's
greatest master of
song. John
Dowland. The
"Lachrymae" Pavan
is one of a group
of works that
paraphrases
Dowland's "Flow,
my tears" and to
which Byrd,
Farnaby and Morley
also contributed;
"Can she excuse my
wrongs" treats the
song melody in
variation, giving
in the character
of a galliard.
The anonymous Toye
is characterized
by vigorous
melody, almost in
the style of a
popular song and
tiny little
flourishes and
playful figures.
Giles Farnaby's
Fantasy is similar
in character, but
incomparably more
demanding in its
virtuosity. The
Pavan by Orlando
Gibbons which
concludes our
selection is one
of the rarer
examples of a
virginalistic
dance-form without
varied repetition
of its sections -
a magnificent
piece of writing
over abounding in
hidden subtitles,
which artfully
rounds off its
clear ternary form
into
self-contained
cyclic character
by joining the
conclusion almost
note for note to
the conclusion of
the first section.
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