Fretwork, the ensemble performing on this album, celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2021 and has commissioned over 40 new works for viols from prominent contemporary composers.
Composition History
The Flat Consort was titled 'for my cousin Kemble', suggesting a connection to a prominent Hereford Catholic family, one member of whom became a martyr.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Locke famously remarked that he 'never yet saw any Foreign Instrumental Composition (a few French Corants excepted) worthy an English mans transcribing'.
Composer Biography
Matthew Locke, born 400 years ago in 1622, is considered one of England's finest composers, despite being often neglected.
Compositional Technique
Locke's fantasias are distinctive for their many and quick changes in tempo and affect, a characteristic later modeled by Henry Purcell in his own fantasias.
Compositional Technique
Matthew Locke's Flat Consorts feature Fantazias followed by dances, woven into suites, and are notable for their varied instrumentation, including treble, tenor, and bass viols.
Composer Biography
Matthew Locke was known as a difficult, cantankerous man who took offense easily, yet his music is described as being filled with generous warmth.
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