Four Temperaments is the second disc for Avie by the splendid English viol quartet Phantasm led by expatriate American Laurence Dreyfus; the first, a disc of viol consort music by Orlando Gibbons, claimed the distinction of "Best Early Music Recording" in 2004. The follow-up under consideration is certainly no less an achievement and may well be slightly better than its predecessor. Dreyfus has devised a brilliant idea for its program; the four sixteenth century composers under consideration -- William Byrd, Alfonso ...
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Four Temperaments is the second disc for Avie by the splendid English viol quartet Phantasm led by expatriate American Laurence Dreyfus; the first, a disc of viol consort music by Orlando Gibbons, claimed the distinction of "Best Early Music Recording" in 2004. The follow-up under consideration is certainly no less an achievement and may well be slightly better than its predecessor. Dreyfus has devised a brilliant idea for its program; the four sixteenth century composers under consideration -- William Byrd, Alfonso Ferrabosco the Elder, Robert Parsons, and Thomas Tallis -- are likened to the four temperaments first described by Hippocrates -- melancholic, phlegmatic, choleric, and sanguine. A well-chosen selection of consort music of these composers, mixed in with a few instrumental realizations of vocal pieces, are sequenced in an alternating manner that lends credence to the notion that the relative "humours" of the four provide the key to their individual and characteristic voices, at least in...
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Add this copy of Four Temperaments to cart. $15.98, like new condition, Sold by Streetlight_Records rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Cruz, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Avie.
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