The Faerie Round is a vivid exploration of English dance and ballad music from late Elizabethan England from PIVA - The Renaissance Collective, their third album. Drawing on repertory associated with courtly entertainment, popular festivity and domestic music-making, the programme evokes a richly imagined sound-world in which elegance, wit and rhythmic vitality coexist. At its heart lies Anthony Holborne’s The Faerie Round, a homage to Queen Elizabeth I, whose court fostered a flourishing culture of instrumental music.

True to PIVA’s distinctive style, the album ranges from moments of quiet intimacy to music of exuberant, foot-stamping energy. Works by Holborne, Byrd, Dowland and their contemporaries sit alongside anonymous tunes preserved in manuscripts and early prints, revealing the faint boundary between art music and popular song in this period. Throughout, PIVA’s performances emphasise colour, character and dance impulse, bringing this imaginative and spirited repertoire vividly to life.

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^{PIVA performs Anthony Holbourne’s The Faerie Round at Snape Maltings | Video produced and edited by Matt Jolly}

‘A stunningly beautiful album’

PIVA
Eric Moulder (Director of Music)
Jane Moulder
Jude Rees
David Jarratt-Knock
Tony Millyard

TRACKS
Anon. Quodling’s Delight
Coperario Gray’s Inn the First and Gray’s Inn the Second
Nicholson The Jewes Dance
Tye Farewell my good one, for ever
Woodcock The Leaves be Green (The Browning Fantasy)
Anon. Fortune my Foe
Dowland Mr Giles Hobies Galliard
Anon. Paul’s Steeple
Holborne Wanton and The Widow’s Mite
Allison De la Tromba Pavin
Holborne Almayne 56
Byrd The Earl of Oxford’s March
Holborne The Faerie Round
Anon. (Playford) Kemp’s Jigs
Holborne Pavane 39 and Galliard 38
Anon. My Lord of Oxford’s Galliard
Anon. Prince Edward’s Paven and The Queine of Ingland’s Paven
Anon. Nutmegs and Ginger
Byrd Monsieur’s Alman
Woodcock Hackney
Anon. La Doune Cella and La Bounette

The album is available to purchase on PIVA - The Renaissance Collective's website.