Locke: Consorts Flat and Sharp
Elizabeth Kenny (lute), Phantasm
With their ever-changing affects and tempos, these consorts require alert and agile players and, in this respect, Phantasm is unrivalled. The playing here is technically flawless: lines are...
Locke: Consorts Flat and Sharp
Elizabeth Kenny (lute), Phantasm
Purchase product
With their ever-changing affects and tempos, these consorts require alert and agile players and, in this respect, Phantasm is unrivalled. The playing here is technically flawless: lines are...
About
In this recording, the expert violists of Phantasm return to the unconventional yet brilliant polyphonist Matthew Locke. Under the guidance of Laurence Dreyfus, Phantasm presents the second half of Locke's Little Consort, composed for treble, tenor and bass viol, and pairs it with three suites from the Flat Consort for my cousin Kemble whose unusual grouping comprises treble and two bass viols. Both sets are accompanied by a chordal bass instrument, in this instance the leading theorbo player Elizabeth Kenny. Locke's experimental, not to say libertarian, impulse pervades the works, and yet the composer remains grounded in the traditional ethos of strict counterpoint, standing as one of the last champions of the once treasured great polyphonic tradition. More than 400 years later, his music remains as fresh as ever.
Contents and tracklist
Awards and reviews
March 2024
With their ever-changing affects and tempos, these consorts require alert and agile players and, in this respect, Phantasm is unrivalled. The playing here is technically flawless: lines are articulated with a remarkable lightness of touch; rhythms are balletic and buoyant, subtly animated by Elizabeth Kenny’s graceful theorbo playing
March 2024
This is a bold and beautiful recording of bold and beautiful music.
27th January 2024
Our ears may not be attuned to Locke’s radicalism, but the more you listen, the more his stylistic adventures draw you in...You won’t hear this music done better.