“Orlando Gibbons was a genius. We can probably all agree that this term is massively anachronistic. However, justified, I think, in order to establish his music on the same elevated niveau as Purcell or Beethoven or Schubert. While it is difficult to make such analogies when his music is still relatively rarely performed by comparison with these more illustrious names, but Gibbons’ fecundity of imagination, his masterly handling of his material, his emotional depth and maturity, the exquisite turns of phrase, his harmonic assurance, his contrapuntal ease and mastery – all this puts him in the first rank of composers” – Richard Boothby.
“My Days is a ritualised memory piece about Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) written for two ensembles whose recordings informed so much of my musical development. I feel like I spend half of my life trying to trick string players to play like Fretwork…so it was with enormous pleasure that I composed this piece.” – Nico Muhly
★★★★★ – BBC Music Magazine
★★★★ – Financial Times
★★★★ – “Muhly’s composition, with its urgent string figures, contrasts beautifully with the flowing imitations of Gibbons’ fantasias, around it.” – The Guardian
“An exhilarating reminder of the sheer ambition of this extraordinary body of chamber music.” – Gramophone
“[Fretwork’s] interpretation of these pieces by Gibbons, as well as one by Nico Muhly, is distinguished by technical excellence, interpretative depth and an innovative contribution to the viola da gamba repertoire.” – Sonograma