Heartsease

In contrast to the medieval spareness of Pavane’s previous CD Dangerous Days, the instrumental and vocal music from the 16th and 17th centuries featured here on Heartsease is more colourful and spirited.

Recorded live in Albany Road Baptist Church, Cardiff, Heartsease demonstrates Pavane’s musical versatility and variety, and creates the vitality of a live performance: here is music played with the energy and confidence of this established early music band well into its second decade of music making.

Most of the instrumental numbers are dances – from peasant, country dances to elegant, courtly dances. As well as the more familiar sound of the lute, the recorder consort and the virginals, this CD provides the rarer pleasures of the cittern, the medieval fiddle, the renaissance guitar, the bass viol, crumhorns big and small, the cornamuse and the bass curtal. There is also a wide range of accompanied and unaccompanied songs – traditional folk songs and ballads, courtly songs, drinking songs, songs of love and songs of death.

We’ll leave the last word for that great judge of music, William Shakespeare (who was certainly familiar with many of the numbers on this CD!):

‘Musicians, O Musicians, Heartsease, Heartsease, O an you will have me live? Play Heartsease’

(Romeo and Juliet, Act IV Scene 5)

Tracklisting

Click on a highlighted title below to check out a short sample in MP3 format.

1. Heartsease (anon 16th century - lute, renaissance recorders, virginals)
2. Tourdion (Pierre Attaignant 1530 - unaccompanied voices)
3. Marrow Bones (trad - voices, cittern, medieval fiddle, bass curtal, sopranino recorder, percussion)
4. Ronde, Hupfauf, Tausend Dukaten (Tielman Susato, Danserye 1551 - crumhorns, cornamuse, medieval fiddle, percussion)
5. My Lady Hunsdon’s Puffe (John Dowland - renaissance recorder consort, lute, virginals)
6. The Unquiet Grave (trad - voices, lute, renaissance tenor recorder)
7. La Volta (William Byrd), Light O’ Love (anon 16th century - cittern, virginals, renaissance guitar, medieval fiddle, bass viol, recorders)
8. A Catch on the Midnight Cats (Michael Wise c1648-1687 - voices)
9. Belle Qui Tiens (Thoinot Arbeau, Orchesographie 1588 - crumhorns, cornamuse, medieval fiddle, descant recorder, drum, voices)
10. Gathering Peascods, All in a Garden Green, Grimstock (John Playford c1650 - cittern, renaissance guitar, medieval fiddle, virginals, recorders, bass curtal)
11. The Three Ravens (trad, arr Thomas Ravenscroft c 1582-c1635 - voices, lute, renaissance tenor recorder)
12. The Crocke (from the court of Henry VIII - soprano crumhorn, alto crumhorn, bass crumhorn, medieval fiddle, percussion)
13. Emperor’s Pavyn, Emperor’s Galliard (from the court of Henry VIII - crumhorns, medieval fiddle, percussion)
14. Courant, Dantz (Paul Peuerl 1625 - renaissance recorders, virginals)
15. Alison Gross (trad - voice, tenor recorder, bass recorders)
16. Reihentanze, Ronde (Tielman Susato - crumhorns, cornamuse, medieval fiddle, percussion)
17. Tant que Vivray (Claudin de Sermisy 1490-1562 - voices, renaissance recorders, lute)
18. The King’s Mistress (anon - renaissance alto recorder, virginals)
19. The Doleful Dance of Death (trad, attrib Thomas Hill - voices, cittern, medieval fiddle, descant recorder)
20. Pastime With Good Company (Henry VIII - crumhorns, cornamuse, descant recorder, bass curtal, medieval fiddle, virginals, drum, voices)

Ordering

The Heartsease CD costs £12, plus 75p postage and packing. A limited number of copies of the Dangerous Days CD are also still available, at a cost of just £10 - or you can buy both CDs together for just £20. If you'd like to order, please download the order form by clicking here. Then simply print it out, fill it in and send it with your payment to:

Pavane
59 Angus Street
Cardiff
CF24 3LX