Berchem/ Lestrange Viols - Aeternum / Music of the Elizabethan

The Elizabethan manuscript from which this album is entirely drawn is known by it's British Library shelf-mark: Additional Manuscript 31390. Add. MS 31390 contains 135 pieces, which capture a snapshot of musical life in the 1570s. Some of the pieces reflect the "hottest new releases" of 1578 (when the manuscript was copied) while others are "golden oldies" from the first half of the 16th century. During the reign of Elizabeth I, there was no way to record music other than by putting musical notation onto paper. In creating an audio recording of this notational record, we aim, as the portrait painter does, to capture not merely the likeness, but the liveness of our subject: musical manuscript as mix-tape or playlist that gathers together music for later hearing and for posterity. Some of the pieces on this album are standards. Those who have sung in a choir will surely know and love Tallis's O sacrum convivium. Aficionados of viol consort music will be familiar with a number of the In nomines. We hope putting these gems of the repertory in proximity to unknown and previously unrecorded works recontextualizes them to offer a more complete view of this important and beautiful manuscript.