Hannah Morrison (soloist), Marnix De Cat (soloist)

Hathor Consort, Romina Lischka

"If music be the food of love, play on" we read in Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night. Play on -- but what music should we play? No playwright in world literature has inspired more musical settings by important composers over the centuries than Shakespeare. It is clear that music's role in Shakespeare's plays can hardly be overestimated. His stage directions call not only for song but also for instrumental sennets and tuckets -- sonatas and toccatas. In this recording, Hannah Morrison, Marnix De Cat and the Hathor Consort bring to life a wealth of sensual Renaissance sounds from the time of Elizabeth I in pieces that could well have been performed at the Globe Theatre.

Anonymus , Thomas Morley (1557-1602) , William Byrd (1543-1623) , Anthony Holborne (1545-1602) , John Wilson (1595-1674) , John Playford (1623-1686) , Robert Johnson (1582-1633) , Philip Rosseter (1568-1623)

• Anonymus: Pavin Albarti; 2 Gallyards; Under the Greenwood Tre; Come Thou Monarch of the Vine; Sigh No More; Allemana d'amour; Ruger; Ronda - La Represa; Brandeberges - La represa; When that I Was and a Little Tiny Boy; Nutmegs and Ginger / Come Unto These Yellow Sands; Fortune My Foe; Desperada; Willow Song; O Death, Rock Me Asleep
  +Thomas Morley: It Was a Lover an His Lass; Now Is The Month of Maying; O Mistress Mine; My Lord of Oxenford's Maske
  +Thomas Morley / Philip Rosseter: Now Is the Month of May
  +William Byrd: Passamezzo Pavana; Malt's Come Downe
  +Anthony Holborne: Heigh Ho Holiday; The Sighes; The Fairie Rounde; The Night Watch; The Funeralles
  +John Wilson: Where the Bee Sucks
  +Robert Johnson: Full Fathom Five
  +John Playford: Jog on; Tarleton's Jig