No one would describe the mid seventeenth century as a Golden Age for English music. Political turmoil, natural disasters and a deep-seated uncertainty about how to react to foreign musical innovations all took their toll, leaving some English composers firmly committed to old (and increasingly old-fashioned) styles while others dabbled, more or less successfully, in the new. Much of what survives is of chamber proportions, undemonstrative in manner and admirably suited to the amateur circles that cherished such quiet, civilized music. It does not transfer so readily into the concert hall, and recordings have never existed in quantity.
This new anthology offers little if anything that can be described as startling or spectacular; but it is neatly crafted music, decently performed, and connoisseurs will be pleased to have it in their collections. John Wilson, a court musician who later became professor of music at Oxford, is the focus of the attention, with 12 songs variously accompanied by lute, theorbo, bass viol and violin. They are works of modest achievement, shunning the lyricism of Dowland's generation while not yet achieving the drama and pathos of Purcell. The instrumental items are more miscellaneous, ranging from three sonatas by the expatriate Henry Butler—not very English in their manner, but fine music that boosts the appeal of the disc considerably—to one of Matthew Locke's more domestically-scaled consort suites.
The performances, like the music, are chamber-size. I could have wished for even more declamatory rhetoric in Drew Minter's style of singing, and rather more ease and grace in the ornamentation he adds to Wilson's sometimes plain lines; but in general his readings are stylish. If some of the songs plod a little, the instrumental items are turned out in more spirited fashion. The documentation is good and generously laid out, with full texts.'