The "consort lessons" compiled here by composer and publisher Thomas Morley were for the distinctively English broken consort, which Morley himself brought to the world of Elizabethan court and noble entertainment. It was among the first large heterogenous instrumental ensembles, but its exact composition has been a matter of debate. The Belgian early music group La Caccia, basing its performance partly on a 1591 account of a dinner with the Queen penned by the Duke of Hertford, uses (in the duke's words "lute, pandora [bandora], base violl, citterne, treble viol, and flute"). The disc is a full-fledged attempt at an authentic performance, with attention to ornamentation practice; the group tries to imagine the works in performance, getting more and more dense and energetic as a piece proceeds. This First Book of Consort Lessons, published by Morley, includes music by Peter Phillips, Richard Alison, John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons, William Byrd, Daniel Bachiler, and an anonymous composer, as well as Morley himself. The pieces include arrangements of madrigals, including Morley's famous Now is the month of May and Dowland's Can she excuse; many of the works are in pavane (rendered here as "pavin")-and-galliard pairs. The galliards are taken at a rather deliberate tempo, resulting in a lack of contrast with the pavanes, and the mood of the whole is extremely restrained. The playing, however, is lovely, and reveals many sensitive details on repeated hearings. Something of a specialist recording, this will be of interest to a wide variety of listeners, including anyone fascinated by the world of the Elizabethans in general, and even stage directors wondering just what the music of the British court sounded like at this time. The booklet notes, in French, Dutch, and English, pack in considerable information that brings precision to matters that have been subjected to a good deal of guesswork. ~ James Manheim, All Music Guide
