A delightful medley, musically as well as musicologically, the 18 different instruments being combined with great imagination.

The subtitle of this album says more about its content than does the main one. There is much titular reference to Spain and to gypsies, but only in ‘The Spanish Jeepsies’ do the two come together. It seems that in Shakespeare’s time Spanish popular tunes were perceived as being of gypsy origin. More to the point, the programme is skilfully devoted to showing the influence of Celtic and Spanish idioms on English popular music – a difficult, labyrinthine process that it’s not particularly helpful to try to summarise here, but it is well covered in Lawrence-King’s annotation.

Charles I’s Consorte opened the way for courtly instruments to ‘fraternise’ with humbler ones, creating a variety of new sounds, and the Harp Consort take full advantage of this ‘social’ freedom. The eight players form a kaleidoscope of broken consorts drawn from the 18 instruments (plucked, bowed, blown and percussed) at their disposal, producing a remarkable spectrum of sound from the ethereal (‘Lady Louthians Lilt’) to the downright boisterous (‘The Wherligig’). Only five of the 23 items last for more than four minutes but one never has the impression of a trayful of canapes deputising for a good meal.

When it comes to putting together a coherent and well-researched programme of assorted small-scale items, only Peter Holman springs to mind as Andrew Lawrence-King’s peer. Excellent recording is the icing on this delectable cake, one that takes 71 minutes to enjoy.

-- John Duarte, Gramophone [11/2000]