This splendid, indeed enchanting collection consists of music arranged for lute consort; well, actually what we have here is an ensemble consisting of four lutes, one ceterone, and a virginal played by the always wonderful Pierre Hantaï. The repertoire contains some items familiar to anyone who enjoys English music for viols. As the notes point out, a great deal of music actually was performed on massed lutes, but very little survives for the simple reason that the musicians would have simply read from existing manuscripts for viols or voices, the ranges of the various instruments being very similar. The sound made by all of these plucked instruments can only be described as "succulent". It is rich, mellow, and voluptuous. Nor is there any lack of textural variety, as numbers of participants vary from item to item. Hantaï's contribution is particularly welcome. He establishes and maintains the rollicking tone of Morley's Galiarda, and his initial entrance in John Johnson's Wakefilde on a green is electrifying.

Johnson is the composer most frequently represented, with four works out of a total of 22. They are all magnificent, particularly Trenchmore, which is one of the longest and most highly developed pieces in the collection. You also may recognize the tune in Johnson's Sellengers Ronnde, later used by Michael Tippett in his charming Divertimento. John Dowland's famous Lachrimae is here, sounding rather less lugubrious than usual when scored for lutes, as well as music by Parsons, Robinson, Holborne, Daniel (the famous Passymeasure Galliard), and Coperario. There's even an early version of Greensleeves, the tune consisting of what we would now consider just the refrain of the complete song.

Under the leadership of Vincent Dumestre the performances are irreproachable, impeccably tuned, and a pleasure from first note to last. The sonics are equally so, though with so many plucked instruments there's an unavoidable level of performance noise and some heavy breathing here and there. All things considered, it's far less than I expected, and not at all bothersome. In all, this is a wonderful disc, even for those who tend to shy away from "early music" collections. [12/6/2005]

--David Hurwitz