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Track(s) taken from CDS44461/7

A Pavin and Galliard, BK33

composer
Forster (Nos 66/67). [Neighbour, ‘Pavan & Galliard C3’ p 210]

Davitt Moroney (harpsichord)
Recording details: December 1996
Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, France
Produced by John Hayward-Warburton
Engineered by Ken Blair
Release date: September 1999
Total duration: 6 minutes 44 seconds

Cover artwork: Phoenix. A glass window specially designed, made and photographed by Malcolm Crowthers.
 

This pair of works is one of the finest of Byrd’s most mature pavan and galliard pairs, dating from the early years of the seventeenth century. Neighbour suggests that their keyboard style may be Byrd’s response to the style of his pupil John Bull, generally less melodic and more figurative. In the third strain of the pavan, Byrd appears to quote from Bull’s fine Pavana of my L. Lumley (FVB No 41). John, Lord Lumley, died in 1609. The individual melodies are less inherently expressive than is usual in Byrd’s keyboard music, but a fine contrast is built up between scales falling a fourth in the first strain, or rising a fourth in the second strain, and a more static but rhythmically assertive material for the third strain. The emphasis on overall range is orchestrated in a particularly sonorous manner. The pavan is a ‘16-bar’ work, its six sections running to 96 semibreves. The galliard, again full of figurative material, closes with a trumpet-like third strain.

from notes by Davitt Moroney © 1999

Cette paire est parmi les plus belles de la maturité de Byrd, datant des premières années du XVIIe siècle. Neighbour suggère que leur style claviéristique peut être la réponse du compositeur au style de son élève John Bull, en général moins mélodique et plus figuratif. Dans la troisième strophe de la pavane, Byrd semble citer la belle Pavana of my L. Lumley de Bull (FVB, n° 41). Lord John Lumley meurt en 1609. Les phrases mélodiques sont ici moins expressives que dans la plupart des œuvres de Byrd, mais un contraste est établi entre les gammes qui descendent d’une quarte (dans la première strophe) ou qui montent d’une quarte (dans la deuxième strophe), et une musique plus statique mais d’un rythme plus caractérisé (dans la troisième). L’exploration de l’étendue du clavier est orchestrée d’une manière particulièrement sonore. La pavane est “à seize”, ayant six sections et quatre-vingt-seize semi-brèves. La gaillarde, à nouveau pleine de motifs figuratifs, se termine par des fanfares.

extrait des notes rédigées par Davitt Moroney © 1999

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