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The Fantasia No. 1 by William Byrd, in honor of his 400th anniversary, performed on renaissance viols by The Voice of the Viol viola da gamba consort. Wendy Gillespie, Elisabeth Reed, Farley Pearce and William Skeen, renaissance viols. The Voice of the Viol, a program of Voices of Music, is directed by Elisabeth Reed. In his Fantasia, Byrd demonstrates his extraordinary command of counterpoint and texture. The initial countersubject, sounded only once in the piece, is a simple, bell-like four note pattern which was also used for Anne Boleyn's lament “O Death, rock me asleep.“ A lively and engaging musical conversation based on points of imitation resonates throughout. William Byrd was one of the most important composers at the English court, writing in a wide variety of sacred and secular styles during his long career from the 1560's until his death in 1623. The viols in this video are matched set of renaissance viols made by Wesley Brandt with bentwood soundboards and strung with renaissance strings. These early viols have a unique sound! The invention of wire wound or overspun strings dramatically changed the sound of music in the middle of the 17th century. These earlier renaissance strings have a warm, balanced and vocal timbre, especially in a matched consort. The Fantasia was published in Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets … fit for Voyces or Viols (London, 1611), presumably composed earlier. This work is presented here for the first time in 8K video. Fun fact: Voices of Music's CoDirector David Tayler's Ph.D. advisor in musicology was Philip Brett, the editor of the Byrd edition, and author of “William Byrd and his Contemporaries,“ and David also studied with Joe Kerman, who wrote the Byrd article in the Grove dictionary of music and the book “The Masses and Motets of William Byrd.“ #Byrd Producer: Hanneke van Proosdij Audio engineer: David Tayler 8K Video: Lloyd Hryciw and Rob Clevenger Post Production: David Tayler and Andrew Levy Special thanks to Margaret Cohen.
