The English Orpheus

Press, 7 September 1982, Page 6

The English Orpheus

The English Orpheus. Emma Kirkby, soprano, and Anthony Rooley, lute. September 6, State Trinity Theatre. Reviewed by Margaret Buchanan. * The recital was presented by the University, of Canterbury School of Music, with the support of the British .Council.. This English duo has specialised in music of the Renaissance and, through the Consort of Musicke, has presented much of the major secular music of the period 1450-1650. In recent years SI emphasis has .been I on the English reperof the sixteenth cenSr. and . the; programme ected this. -- ” .. The’, title “Orpheus” was the highest compliment paid to. composers. - ~ « - 1 Like the lament of ■ Orpheus to Eurydice, the first, half ; of the programme was mainly songs of a mel-

ancholy nature. Anthony Rooley gave a lucid and interesting preface to the selection of songs by John Dowland and his contemporaries. These songs were full of contrasts so typical of Dowland’s poetry-.— hope to despair, day to night, and death to life. The music has contrasts also in tonality, in the modal style of harmonies, with quick changes from major to minor keys. ■ The sets f of songs were interspersed , with exquisite pavanes and fantasias played to perfection by Anthony Rooley. These all displayed the beautifully gentle style of imitative. writing that emanated from the Elizabethan court. .. The State Trinity Theatre was ideally suited with its intimate ..atmosphere and •sensitive.acoustics. A pity it was: spoiled by the rattle of buses outside and the creak-

ing of peWs apparently loose in their joints. In the second part of the programme songs from little-known but prolific composers of the seventeenth century, William and Henry Lawes, preceded a set of songs by Henry Purcell. William Lawes, in fact, wrote more than 400 songs of which only a few survived. "Come, Shepherds, Come” and “Perfect and Endless Circles Are” had. a sweetness and a sameness that was quickly, forgotten. ■ Emma Kirkby sang with a perfect expressive simplicity; her words were crisply enunciated with a sense of intonation that only occasionally, wavered. The large and responsive audience was rewarded with an encore which suitably completed a most enjoyable and satisfying recital.