The life of the itinerant musician during the reign of Elizabeth I was not a happy one. In 1572, Elizabeth's government enacted a law that banned all musicians, actors and vagabonds who were not attached to aristocratic families. Because of this repression, many musicians packed up their lutes and recorders and went overseas to more tolerant courts in Denmark and Northern Germany. These musicians also brought with them enormously popular English ballad tunes. These tunes took root in foreign lands and inspired Northern European composers like Sweelinck, Praetorius and Scheidt.
This recording by the ensemble Les Witches presents a set of tuneful English ballads in their simplest, harmonized versions. As an added treat the ensemble, comprised of violin, recorder, lute, and harpsichord, improvise on a number of the tunes. The greatest composers of the Elizabethan era are presented, including Dowland, Morley, Johnson, and the wonderfully named Nicholas le Strange. Les Witches are superb instrumentalists and their performances are colored with exuberant energy and, when necessary, a touch of melancholy. This is an ideal introduction to the unique sound of the English Renaissance ballad.