Delphians own band of troubadours, Fires of Love, follow in the footsteps of King James VI on a varied journey through song and instrumental music deftly weaving their way through Scotlands rich tapestry of historic manuscripts to unveil attractive unsophisticated melodies, often heavily imbued with the French style, before travelling south to London, where James and his musicians would have been taken aback by the highly active theatre scene. Shakespeares texts give rise to compelling settings, from the plaintive And will he not come again, poignantly rendered here by Frances Cooper, to the risqu joviality of St Valentines Day. As the Scots courtier-musicians nimbly traded French influence for Londons Englished Italian style, one wonders: did they regretfully look homewards? Remember me, my deir
“Rather than clamouring for attention, individual tracks contribute to a single unfolding arc of musical narrative…There’s a sense of eavesdropping on something private and intimate, so delicately understated are the performances.”
“The performances are gentle, intimate and never less than beguiling.”
“The greater sophistication of the early 17th- century English composers must have shocked the Scots musicians, but its to the quartets credit that the two strains blend seamlessly here.”
“Frances Cooper proves the most able and beguiling of interpreters…the blending of timbres and tone colours is nothing short of perfect.”
“The Scottish airs often bear traces of dance-like elegance, well suited to the lustrous tone of Frances Cooper, whose hauntingly beautiful sound is one of the chief delights of the recording.”
EARLY MUSIC REVIEW
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Catalogue No: DCD34129
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