'Time Stands Still': Elizabethan and Jacobean songs and keyboard music
Songs and Keyboard music by William Byrd, John Dowland, Philip Rosseter, Thomas Campion, Orlando Gibbons, Robert Johnson, Thomas Tomkins and Thomas Ford.
Simon Ponsford - countertenor
David Ponsford - virginals & organ
The publication of Dowland’s Firste Book of Songes or Ayres in 1597, which ran to several editions, marks the first of about thirty volumes of lute song collections that were published during the next quarter of a century. The 450th anniversary of the birth of John Dowland (1563-1626) has been a catalyst for a new appraisal of his lute songs. This recording is therefore an experiment in the use of virginals and organ to accompany his exquisite songs. Historically, it is quite possible that the young ladies playing the virginals in the wonderful series of paintings by Jan Vermeer (1632-75) actually represent ladies accompanying themselves on the virginals whilst singing. The sound of the muselar (virginals with a right sided keyboard) is not unlike a powerful lute, which makes it extremely effective in accompanying singers, and it is this quality which has led us to explore the English lute song repertory.
"remarkably fine results on this recording"
"this countertenor shows his pure beauty of voice with a natural character"
"Simon Ponsford has power, purity, fine articulation and such natural feel for the words" - The Classical Reviewer
"his singing of ‘Time stands still’ wants for nothing, the timbre of precisely the right weight and color for the vocal line and the tone hauntingly beautiful" - Voix des Arts
"I always get excited when I get to hear an album of artists I am not familiar with, which turns out to be wonderful." - Expedition Audio
Available to purchase on Amazon, iTunes and by clicking the above title.
Simon Ponsford - countertenor
David Ponsford - virginals & organ
The publication of Dowland’s Firste Book of Songes or Ayres in 1597, which ran to several editions, marks the first of about thirty volumes of lute song collections that were published during the next quarter of a century. The 450th anniversary of the birth of John Dowland (1563-1626) has been a catalyst for a new appraisal of his lute songs. This recording is therefore an experiment in the use of virginals and organ to accompany his exquisite songs. Historically, it is quite possible that the young ladies playing the virginals in the wonderful series of paintings by Jan Vermeer (1632-75) actually represent ladies accompanying themselves on the virginals whilst singing. The sound of the muselar (virginals with a right sided keyboard) is not unlike a powerful lute, which makes it extremely effective in accompanying singers, and it is this quality which has led us to explore the English lute song repertory.
"remarkably fine results on this recording"
"this countertenor shows his pure beauty of voice with a natural character"
"Simon Ponsford has power, purity, fine articulation and such natural feel for the words" - The Classical Reviewer
"his singing of ‘Time stands still’ wants for nothing, the timbre of precisely the right weight and color for the vocal line and the tone hauntingly beautiful" - Voix des Arts
"I always get excited when I get to hear an album of artists I am not familiar with, which turns out to be wonderful." - Expedition Audio
Available to purchase on Amazon, iTunes and by clicking the above title.
'In The Dark': Platinum Consort: Music for Holy Week
The Holy Week liturgies have provoked some of the most potent and emotional compositions of all time. In The Dark presents some of the most powerful and poignant choral music to come from the western world, including James MacMillan's stunning 'Miserere' and specially commissioned works by Richard Bates, Platinum’s composer in residence. These contemporary works are juxtaposed – yet inextricably linked – with choral music by Lassus, Victoria, Purcell and Lotti. The title work, Bates’ 'In The Dark', encapsulates the poignancy of Holy Week, with a new setting of the Tudor poem 'You that have spent the silent night' by George Gascoigne (1525-1577).
"Pristine tonal balance and pure tuning...intimate music-making...sensitively sung...vigorously projected" - BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
Available to purchase on Amazon, iTunes and by clicking the above title.
"Pristine tonal balance and pure tuning...intimate music-making...sensitively sung...vigorously projected" - BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
Available to purchase on Amazon, iTunes and by clicking the above title.
