Viol consort Fretwork and mezzo soprano Helen Charlston explore the more reflective and sombre Christmas celebrations of Elizabethan England, in a collection of works by William Byrd, Anthony Holborne, Orlando Gibbons and Martin Peerson.
With celebrations confined strictly to the 12 days from Christmas Eve to Epiphany, the preceding Advent was regarded as a time of religious introspection, with music composed to mark both fasting and feasting. Byrd’s consort songs for voice and 5 viols encompass this range, from the joyous Out of the Orient Crystal Skies – ending with an exuberant ‘Falantidingdido’, a word whose meaning is lost to history – to his Lullaby, a ‘song of sadnes and pietie’ that became one of Byrd’s most enduringly famous songs.
In 2021, Fretwork celebrates its 35th anniversary. In the past three and a half decades they have explored the core repertory of great English consort music, from Taverner to Purcell, and made classic recordings against which others are judged. In addition to this, Fretwork have become known as pioneers of contemporary music for viols, having commissioned over 40 new works.
Acclaimed for her musical interpretation, presence and “warmly distinctive tone” (The Telegraph), Helen Charlston is quickly cementing herself as a key performer in the next generation of British singers. Helen won first prize in the 2018 Handel Singing Competition and was a finalist in the Hurn Court Opera Competition, and the Grange Festival International Singing Competition.
★★★★ “Tracks like Byrd’s ‘Out of the Orient Crystal Skies’ and Weelkes’s ‘To shorten Winter’s Sadnesse’ show voice and instruments interweaving in seamless expressivity…All are played with Fretwork’s typical attunement to the sensibilities of the Elizabethan period” – BBC Music Magazine
“This is music embracing, tender and loving…This is the Christmas disc I’ll be asking Santa for a hard copy of this December” – Gramophone’s The Christmas List
★★★★ “Festive viol pieces and consort songs from Tudor and Stuart winter celebrations offer moments for both contemplation and rejoicing…The songs are beautifully delivered by the mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, who sings with firm yet confiding tone…There’s a feeling of consolation here that you can hunker down with, however you’re feeling about the festive season this year” – The Guardian
