Fretwork highlights Lupo’s various affects: here, the style is light and breezy – buoyed by lithe, dancing rhythms, gracefully articulated; elsewhere, wistful melodies and chromaticisms evoke a darker more introspective mood. Throughout, the consort’s sound is luminous and so finely balanced that even in the more intricate contrapuntal works individual lines remain lucid.

Throughout the program, the ensemble maintains an understated, sophisticated approach. This is not to say that the performances are bland; far from it. On the contrary, this allows individual voices to be heard clearly in the texture and brings out Lupo’s delicate gestures without being showy. The recorded sound is excellent.

These fantasias by Lupo are a fine discovery indeed; brought to such life as they are here by Fretwork, it’s a puzzle how they are not better known.

Lupo served in the courts of both Elizabeth I and Charles I, working alongside composers including Ferrabosca and Gibbons, and many of the works here fuse Italian and English elements in the most beguiling of ways: Fretwork positively revel in the range of textures, from spare beauty to full-throttle shredding, and the rhythmic vitality of the music registers loud and clear.