El arte de fantasía

16th century dances, tientos & chansons by Cabezón, Mudarra, Josquin, Narváez, Crequillon, et al., transcribed by Luis Venegas de Henestrosa (c.1510-70)

In this fascinating glimpse of the musical life at the court of Charles V, Andrew Lawrence-King and members of The Harp Consort recreate the intricate Spanish “art of improvisation” documented by Luis Venegas de Henestrosa (c. 1510–1570) in his Libro de cifra nueva (1557) — a sophisticated collection of Spanish romances, French chansons, popular dances and polyphonic fantasias, which Henestrosa transcribed for harp, keyboards, and vihuela.

Among a collection of first-class recordings, this new one from Andrew Lawrence-King and The Harp Consort may be the best-programmed and overall the most engaging for fans of early instrumental music. The concept is to "recreate the Spanish 'art of improvisation' documented by Luis Venegas de Henestrosa (c. 1510-70) in his Libro de cifra nueva", which was a collection of Spanish romances and French chansons along with dances and fantasias that Henestrosa intabulated for harp, keyboard, and vihuela. His adaptations of both vocal and instrumental pieces by eminent composers such as Josquin, Crequillon, and Cabezón--sometimes combining the work of several composers into one--was a common practice in Henestrosa's time, and it results in uniformly attractive creations ripe with improvisational possibilities for musicians as skilled and imaginative as Lawrence-King and his colleagues.

There's tremendous variety here of instrumentation, of style--including more or less overtly improvisational pieces, and of tempo and mood, and Lawrence-King offers wonderful arrays of color and articulation in his various harp solos. Highlights include the sublime Josquin/Narváez Mille regres (performed by Lawrence-King on the Spanish double-harp), Henestrosa's melancholy canción "Mundo, ¿qué me puedes dar?" for gamba and organ and his Fuga a 40 "Unum colle Deum", which features wonderful textures and timbres, and the lively and richly colored anonymous canción "Je vous". The fact is, there's not a dull moment here, my only slight complaint being the 10-minute-long set of variations on the romance "Conde Claros", which just seems a bit too extensive for the music's intrinsic interest. That aside, the programming is exceptionally skillful and the music is first-rate.

As for the performances, there are no better practitioners of this repertoire than Lawrence-King, Hille Perl (viola da gamba), Lee Santana (vihuela, cittern), Steven Player (renaissance guitar), and Helen Coombs (organ, harpsichord), and they are captured in ideal sound--vibrant, detailed, well-balanced, and natural in the fine acoustics of St. George's Church, Chesterton in Cambridge, England. Add this one to your collection. --David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com