Description

The eleven consorts by William Lawes “for the Harp, Bass Violl, Violin and Theorbo” are known collectively as “The Harp Consorts”. This creative collection of compositions, stands in a striking historical isolation with no exact precedent, and, through the catastrophic interruption of the English Civil War, no descendants whatsoever. That war not only ended the brilliant musical circle assembled at the court of Charles the First for which these works were conceived, it also ended the lives of Charles and of Lawes himself, at the siege of Chester in 1645. This is the first complete recording of Lawes’ Harp Consorts. It is the specificity of the instrumentation and the inventive and idiomatic writing for each, combined with Lawes’ intensely personal, expressive and quirky musical language that make the collection a unique treasure.