Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)
One week from today harmonia mundi will release the debut of Robin Pharo on its label. He leads his own early music ensemble, given the name “Près de votre oreille” (close to your ear). The group features three vocalists, soprano Maïlys De Villoutreys, mezzo Anaïs Bertrand, and bass Alex Rosen. Fiona-Émilie Poupard alternates between violin and viola da gamba, joined by Pharo also on gamba. The continuo includes harp (Pernelle Marzorati), theorbo (Simon Waddell), and Loris Barrucand alternating between harpsichord and organ. The vocal selections alternate with Harp Consort performances.
The title of the album is Lighten mine eies, and it presents muic composed by William Lawes. The advance material I received cites him as “the brilliant heir to [William] Byrd and [Orlando] Gibbons.” Every now and then I reflect on my rich exposure to pre-Classical music when I took advantage of the fact that my office at the University of Pennsylvania was across the parking lot from the Music building. Voices of Music has been my primary source of reviving those memories. As a result, it did not take me long to discover that this ensemble had a YouTube video of a performance of Lawes’ setting of Robert Herrick’s poem “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.”
The texts for most of the vocal selections are taken from Choice Psalmes put into musick. In the track listing the others simply cite the British Library! For the most part, however, the music holds its own in prevailing of texts that were probably familiar to listeners from the early seventeenth century. Personally, I was drawn more to the interleaving of the voices in the instrumental polyphony. There is much in the album to draw and sustain attention, and those wishing to acquire the album sooner rather than later will be happy to know that its Amazon.com Web page is currently processing pre-orders.
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