Mathilde Sevrin: soprano
Thomas Deprez, Gayané Doneyan, Clémence Grégoire, Nathalie Houtman: recorders

Programme:

Hugh Ashton (ca. 1584 – 1558):
Oxford, Christ Church
Hugh Ashton's Maske

Henry VIII (1491 - 1547):
Pastime with good company

Henry VIII (1491 - 1547):
Lusty youth should us ensue

Henry VIII (1491 - 1547):
Helas Madame

Elway Bevin (ca. 1554 – 1638):
Art of Musicke:
Browning

Anthony Holborne (? – 1602):
Pavans, Galliards, Almains and other short Aeirs, both grave and light, in five parts, for Viols, Violins, recorders or other Musicall Winde Instruments:
Pavan / galliard / almain / The fairy rounde / Hartes Ease / In Peascod Time

Anonymus:
When Daphne from fair Phoebus did fly

John Dowland (1563 – 1626):
First Booke of Songs or Ayres:
Come, heavy sleep

John Dowland (1563 - 1626):
First Booke of Songs or Ayres:
Come again

John Dowland (1563 - 1626):
First Booke of Songs or Ayres:
Flow my tears

John Dowland (1563 - 1626):
First Booke of Songs or Ayres:
Can she excuse

William Byrd (ca.1540 - 1623)
Psalmes, sonets, and songs of sadness
Ye sacred muses, elegy on the death of Thomas Tallis
d minor

Thomas Lupo (1571 - ca. 1627)
The Four-Part Consort Music
2 Fantasias

William Byrd (ca. 1540 – 1623)
Psalmes, sonets, and songs of sadness
Lullaby, my sweet little baby

John Jenkins (1592 - 1678)
Antimasque-section of an English masque
Antimasque

Robert Johnson (ca. 1580 - 1634)
Antimasque-section of an English masque
The Satyrs

Anonymus
Antimasque-section of an English masque
The witch

Orlando Gibbons (1583 - 1625)
The first set of madrigals and motets
What is our life ?

Thomas Morley (1557 - 1602)
The first booke of ballets to five voices
Shoot, false love, I care not

About the programme:

Sacred Muses

The muses are mythological characters which are supposed to inspire poets, writers, composers... and are to be found in all English literature of the 16th and 17th centuries. They are, in a way, the reason why we create and like art. The ensemble Alba Novella, literally “a new dawn”, is all about sharing with the audience our love for English early music.
This program, which we have already played several times in France and Belgium, is composed of four sections and covers the whole 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century:

We start with the turn of the 16th century. The musical language is still inspired by medieval melodies and is not totally contrapuntal yet. Very little is known of Hugh Ashton; the fascinating piece we will play is kept in Oxford (without the ground bass though), Christ Church, and sounds more like a highly challenging medieval keyboard piece than a recorder piece.
Henry VIII is of course a very famous composer. After his death, more than 72 recorders and 76 flutes were counted in his instruments collection. King of England from 1509 to 1547, he was with Francis I in France and Charles V in Spain one of the most famous music-loving sovereign.

The repertoire changes throughout the 16th century; dances and songs are more and more used in royal entertainments. John Dowland (1563-1626), the most famous lutenist of his time, who worked for Christian IV of Denmark, left us many songs with outstanding texts and melodies. They can be performed many ways, either for example with a singer and a lute, or with recorders and a solo voice. Thus, the text is easier to understand, and the recorders are the harmonic support. Anthony Holborne, lutenist of the queen Elizabeth I, composed many dances played at court or in households.

Music also featured in numerous social occasions, such as entertainments, weddings and funerals: our program is named after the magnificent piece by William Byrd (ca.1540-1623), who worked for the court of England and composed both liturgical and secular music. This elegy upon the death of Thomas Tallis, an other great composer of the 16the century, is very intimate and perfectly suits the recorders.
Music was extremely important in plays and court entertainments: we call “masques” the royal revels of Elizabeth I and James I. Vocal and instrumental music was to be expected in dances and magic scenes. It symbolizes the divine world, descending on earth to be seen by the court. The Antimasque-sections, created by the queen Anne of Denmark and the poet Ben Jonson in 1609, were actually the moment of the appearance of monsters, witches, satyrs...

Finally, the madrigal imported from Italy by Thomas Morley was a very important form of English renaissance music. The madrigal by Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) “What is our life ?” is a reflection on the shortness of life and on how life is like a theatre stage, on which everyone plays a different part. The one by Thomas Morley (1557-1602) is made in a lighter genre and describes gentle love.
 

BIO:
Alba Novella, a new day, or a new start...All these expressions to signify the same: : a meeting, a new project.
The ensemble was created after a reunion of four musicians of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. All four members are former students of Frédéric de Roos, director of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. They have a common passion for recorders and Renaissance music, and they are dedicated to making a large public discover the polyphonic music that was produced between 1500 and 1650. They do this on copies of historical instruments which makes it possible to access a repertoire, which is seldom performed in our western world. The instruments on which Alba Novella plays were created by Adriana Breukink, one of the most well-known renaissance recorder-makers. The consort is a Bassano consort tuned in fifths at 466 Hz.
Every member of the ensemble frequently performs with different chamber music ensembles yet they thoroughly enjoy the small-scale of Alba Novella, which enables them to play a more intimate repertoire that is actually closer to the real expression of the recorder in general.
The Consorts, ensembles of instruments of the one family, occupy an important place in the musical life of the Renaissance. This formation flourished in the private spheres, marking of the beginning of an expansion of the performance of music in middle –class households, whereas earlier it had only been a privilege of the upper class and aristocratic circles.