Search - John Wilbye, Richard Nicholson, John Mundy :: The Triumphs of Oriana

The triumphs of I Fagiolini

08/24/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Triumphs of Oriana are a collection of polyphonic songs of the Elisabethian period published by Morley to honour Oriana (poetic nickname of Queen Elisabeth I). Therefore he collected songs composed by 25 wellknown English composers of his time (only William Byrd is missing) which all end with the words "Long life fair Oriana".
I already heard the Triumphs of Oriana sung by the King's Singers. This version by I Fagiolini sounds differently, as they are 7 men and 3 women instead of 6 men, but the result is very interesting: the female voices give indeed more brilliant to the sound.
Because this series was famous in its time among the amateurs, for private concerts, this CD includes various lute pieces in order to sound like an Elisabethian private concert.
Today, the listener has other standards and I don't find this idea is really good: it deforces the a cappella songs by a kind of intermezzo.
Anyway, the listener has yet the possibility to skip the lute pieces if he likes thanks to the miracle of the CD player.
In that case, the CD is really very good."

What a wonderful CD!

07/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This really is a beautiful collection of music. "The Triumphs of Oriana" was published in 1601 by famous English composer Thomas Morley as a collection of songs honoring Queen Elizabeth (Oriana). 25 major English composers' songs are in here, except for William Byrd. The vocals are beautiful and really take the listener back to the golden age of European civilization. There are also several lute pieces inserted into the CD to add to the Renaissance feeling. This is an excellent CD!"