It is very nearly 400 years since A Musical Banquet was published by Robert Dowland. It proved to be a unique collection of lute pieces gathered together from England, Italy, Spain, and France. The book was the first publication of its kind that contained music in four different languages.
Now A Musical Banquet is released as the latest in the ongoing ECM New Series (catalogue number 1938). The series has made available several important releases from this period. This album is a valuable addition to the catalogue.
Robert Dowland (1586-1641) was the son of John Dowland (1563-1626), the greatest lutenist of his time. In the year of the anthology’s publication John Dowland, who was also a renowned composer, returned to England having left his Court position in Denmark.
His musical finesse had taken him across Europe. He gathered the music of each city, and to them he added several of his own compositions. He had already published several important works which set the style and standard for lute ayres often played at court or in the homes of rich amateur musicians. Perhaps his most noted work up until this point was Lachrimae written in 1604, an instrumental collection for five viols and lute.
His son Robert was only nineteen when the book was published under his name. He too was an accomplished lutenist. We can assume that it was largely the influence of his well travelled father that brought the project to fruition. Despite being credited to Robert the work was more likely a collaboration between the two.
A Musical Banquet also included compositions by John Dowland himself. It embraced music from France’s Guedron, and also Italy, with pieces written by Giulio Caccini. Into this he added songs he had heard whilst in Spain, whose writers are largely unknown.
The pieces that make the collection are a wonderful blend of poetry and music. Rich in charm and atmosphere, they were greatly inspired by the Italian madrigals of composers such as Luca Marenzio.
The set is performed by German Soprano Monika Mauch. Monika made her debut for the ECM label on the album Morimur (Bach) back in 2001. She has studied and performed early music extensively in Paris, Geneva, Munich, Basel, and Cologne.
She accompanies one of the world’s most renowned lutenists, English born Nigel North. His previous works include complete cycles of lute music by both Bach and John Dowland. The two artists met in Innsbruck in 2002 and they agreed to work together. They regularly performed music from A Musical Banquet during their subsequent concerts.
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