Composer: Robert Ballard, Daniel Batchelar, John Dowland, Antony Holborne, Thomas Morley, Julien Perrichon
Performer: Elisa La Marca
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Arcana
Catalogue: A572
Release: 2025
Size: 958 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Dowland: Sir John Smith, His Almain
02. Dowland: A Fancy
03. Ferrabosco: Pavan No. 6
04. Dowland: The Right Honorable the Lady Cliftons Spirit
05. anon.: Volt No. 1
06. anon.: Volt No. 2
07. Dowland: The Most High and Mighty Christianus the Fourth, King of Denmarke, His Galliard
08. Dowland: Forlorn Hope Fancy (Fantasie No. 2)
09. Dowland: The Right Honourable Robert, Earl of Essex, High Marshall of England, His Galliard
10. Dowland: Queen Elizabeth, her Galliard
11. Laurencini of Rome: Fantasie No. 4
12. Dowland: The Right Honourable the Lady Rich, her Galliard
13. Dowland: Fantasia No. 7 from A Varietie of Lute Lessons
14. Morley: Pavan No. 3
15. anon.: The First of the Queenes Maskes
16. anon.: The Second of the Queenes Maskes
17. anon.: The Last of the Queenes Maskes
18. anon.: Coranto No. 6
19. The Knight of the Lute: Fantasie No. 2
20. Dowland: Earl of Derby, his Galliard
21. Ballard: Mounsier Ballard, His Coranto
22. Perrichon: John Perrichon, His Coranto
23. anon.: Coranto No. 3
24. Holborne: Pavan No. 2
25. Batchelar: Monsieurs Almaine
Throughout its Golden Age, England cultivated the masque, an elite entertainment featuring dialogue, song, and dance. As part of these spectacles, courtiers and at times even the queen herself, often graced the dance floor. But it was hired professionals who provided the musical heart of these productions. Lutenists in particular were especially adept at creating music for any occasion. The dances, variations on popular songs, and fantasias they composed are full of versatility and virtuosity. This recording features lute works by the foremost composers of the Elizabethan-Jacobean era, with music by Dowland, Holborne, Bacheler, Ferrabosco, and other contemporaries who participated in The Queenes Maskes. For many years Elisa La Marca has been much sought after by leading specialist ensembles (Il Giardino Armonico, Il Pomo d’Oro, Les Musiciens du Prince, Zefiro etc.), with which she appears in prestigious locations, the mostly recent being the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Here she presents her first solo album, devoted to one of her favourite repertoires.
