William Byrd (1543-1623) Fantasia I [a6] - The Royal Wind Music

[dcfreak23]

Is that Erik Bosgraaf

[mariayerza]

@dcfreak23 Yes, Erik Bosgraaf was a member of RWM between 2000 and 2008

[dalmoamorim]

Harmony and a superb interpretation turn William Byrd to the level he really should occupy in the history of music.

[julie223783]

Stunning - amazing skill

[thewelford]

I wish I was in your band. How cool.

[wcbroccoli]

Sounds more like choral music transcribed for instruments rather than an fantasia composed for instruments.

[AlainNaigeon]

@wcbroccoli Like 90% of renaissance music played on recorders (at least till the middle of the 16th century)

[wcbroccoli]

@AlainNaigeon I won't ask how could you possibly know that. In any case, this piece sounds like Byrd's choral music, not his instrumental music for viols or keyboard. There is a difference between the sound of his choral music and the sound of his instrumental music. The former is composed to fit words

[AlainNaigeon]

@wcbroccoli Yes you are right but Byrd is already (nearly) a guy of the 1600s, when instrumental music has begun to live its own life.

Recorder players love choral music, since a piece for SATB fits well a recorder quatuor, excepted that it is then played an octave higher than it is sung. Unless you have an eight feet ensemble (very big and low recorders) which are terribly expensive (I'm speaking as an amateur, of course).

[AlainNaigeon]

@wcbroccoli Bands, perhaps not, I don't know. But remember the 3 recorder players on the cover of Ganassi's "La fontegara" (+ other guys... singers?).

One might find other such sources and, BTW, I'm not aware of many instrumental pieces in the early 1500s. A scholar could learn us more about that.

I might have misused some words (fantasia) but pieces by Obrecht, Isaac, Agricola have tricky counterpoint and sound instrumental when played this way - though published with text in every part.

[wcbroccoli]

@AlainNaigeon Adrian Willaert (c. 1490 – 7 December 1562) and his contemporaries published much instrumental music under the name "ricercar." If composers of that time actually wrote pieces called "fantasies", we viol players would know them, as the fantasy is the mainstay of viol music. Modern editions of early choral music sometimes incorrectly mischaracterize such pieces as fantasies.The fantasy is an instrumental genre. The form of English fantasy is patterned after the Italian madrigal.

[wcbroccoli]

@AlainNaigeon I play in viol consorts and know well Byrd's contributions to viol music. Some pieces included in collections of Byrd fantasies for viols include pieces like this one, which are very likely choral pieces, as they fit that idiom rather than the idiom of the instrumental fantasy. Some even have passages marked "chorus".

"Choral fantasies" (not to be confused with the "chorale fantasias" of German Baroque church music) are a 20th century invention.

[wcbroccoli]

@AlainNaigeon Here is a YouTube example of an actual 6-part fantasy by Byrd:

/watch?v=w-qS7ms5apQ&feature=r­elated

[AlainNaigeon]

@wcbroccoli Beautiful, they are good at it !

[LeithMusic]

Wind instruments that evoke wind.

[carmel1956]

That's interesting, never knew recorders that big existed. Thanks for the enlightening video. Stuart.

[imyjuliexoxo]

It is not only great to see, but great to hear, but you have to be there. It is then, an extraordinary experience - not to be duplicated any time soon.

[coaxqueen]

Wow an exentric and rare consort.

Would be great see you (and a quite exiting expierence) listen you live!

I hope one day you could tour by my country =)

awesome!

[step277]

What country are you from?

[AudredDax]

That was pretty.

[RoyalWindMusic]

These are all renaissance recorders, ranging from soprano to sub-contrabass.

[madaraszi]

@RoyalWindMusic

Not true. From left to right: two tenors, three basses, three great basses, four contrabasses.

[actmyage9]

what are the names of the instruments you are playing?