William Byrd’s Consort Songs reveal an aspect of his output other than the sterner one of his sacred music, a homelier, more personal aspect. Many of the songs, as David Pinto points out, have texts reflecting an earlier time in Byrd’s life, the reign of Edward VI, a time of moralising piety: He that all earthly pleasure scorns would be an obvious example, or Contents is rich. But that particular song becomes fast and witty, in this performance, almost tongue-in-cheek: it is as if the singer, influenced by the viols, was joining the players and using a vocal technique to match their bowing. Indeed, this is not the only song where the voice, although so distinctive, blends with the viols to the point of adopting, if it were possible, some of their techniques. I found this analogy particularly captivating in the sturdy moderato chosen for The Noble famous Queen; the voice was so completely one with the viols that one could almost hear the strokes of a bow.

There are other songs typically light-hearted in spirit, such as the jolly Epiphany carol Out of the Orient crystal skies, with its finely constructed phrases and merry little ‘Fa-la-lan-ti’ refrain. Then there is the simple story, My Mistress had a little dog, which tells in sprightly phrases of the antics of an amusing pet dog that came to an untimely end.

Emma Kirkby’s versatile performance brings these delightful items to life, and Fretwork fill out the texture with sensitive imitative polyphony. Sometimes the soprano’s almost-too-perfect clarity of articulation tends to obscure the subtlety of the musical phrasing: Byrd makes a point of measuring the English text with extreme care, and the gentle cross-rhythms he creates are essential, adding to the life and flow of the composition.

On a more sombre note is the wonderful elegy for the death of Sir Philip Sydney,O that most rare breast, sung with feeling and drama, most significantly at the final cadence with the pun on Sir Edward Dyer’s name. Robin Blaze adopts a rather slower tempo in his recording and his approach is more truly that of a mourner.

This well-chosen programme is interspersed with five instrumental pieces, three Fantasias for viols, and a delightful pairing and sharing Pavan and Galliard. Fretwork excel here with their vibrant rhythms and gorgeous interplay of parts.