Dowland and Pilkington

Britannia Live

Dates for Lute composers

Alternatives 6 Elizabeth Brown Galliard

Alternatives 3 Nigel North Earl of Derby Galliard

The Earl of Derby His Galliard Video

Galliard Video

Britannia Video

Analysis 01

1. Britannia. What was originally the first side of Tabernakel begins with a Dowland track that at first features only solo lute. The lute is bright and brisk for a moment but then fairly sedate. It is supplemented firstly (from 00:48), under Flynn's baton, by flutes and strings. Then (at 01:18) a brisk beat is set up by Ray Lucas's drum kit (Akkerman also plays bass). At 01:46 Flynn brings in the horn section and we are soon in full concerto mode as the tune is explored by the various instruments. The contrast between horns and flutes is delightful. A brief ritartando brings us to a false ending at 03:16 and the briefest caesura before taking off again with a very jolly section that begins in “Camberwick Green” style but soars on horns before ending with the sonorous and satisfying twang of a deep bass lute string at 03:49 (the reverb taking us into 03:50).

2. Coranto for Mrs Murcott. Next come two solo tracks that feature only the 13 string lute Akkerman uses on the album. The first of these is by Francis Pilkington and is only 84 seconds long. It is played slowly and deliberately but very clearly. Mrs Murcott would be delighted.

3. The Earl of Derby, his galliard. Then comes a slightly longer Dowland track (01:50). This is the second track to feature only the lute. It starts quite slowly and with an air of mystery. The runs slowly pick up pace, however, and by the end there is some pace, the final one ending with some satisfying bass notes.

4. House of the King. We then have a contrast, with a fast and furious version of the first Focus hit. Appice's drums briefly introduce the piece (00:00-00:03) before the electric sitar Akkerman had recently discovered at this time takes up the lead (00:04-00:23). The orchestra then becomes more evident as does Akkerman's mad beating of a tambourine, which adds to the eastern feel of the piece. At 00:40 Flynn's strings become perhaps more lush before the sitar reasserts itself at 00:51. The middle eight (01:12-01:49) is ushered in and left behind with a gong and drums (01:08-01:11 and 01:50-01:53). The section itself makes full use of strings, flutes, guitars and some deft jazz drumming. The last 27 seconds whip through the sitar-led theme one final time before ending with a gloriously resounding gong.

5. A galliard by Anthony Holborne. After the excitement of House of the King we come back to earth with three more solo lute tracks. The first is by Holborne. Sedate and whistful, it is just over two minutes long and beautifully evokes a bygone age.

6. A galliard by John Dowland. The liveliest of the solo lute tracks comes next. Simply entitled A galliard here, Dowland wrote it for the Earl of Essex. It is only a shade longer than the second track. Basically brisk, it shows some variation in pace and volume with features akin to a sort of fanfare.

7. Pavan. The third lute track is a pavan by Thomas Morley. It is mostly very slow, slightly eastern, and, at just over three minutes, rather longer than the previous solo lute tracks. It takes us to a different place.
8. Javeh. Side one closes with the evocative Javeh, named for God, and co-written with George Flynn. Akkerman abandons his lute for a moment and takes up the Spanish guitar, which begins the track in rather eastern style (00:00-00:08) followed by a house of horrors interjection on the harpsichord by Flynn. The woodwind and strings then add to the mystery, the horns helping out too before drifting (at 00:45) into a paradisaical desert island theme produced by the guitar and orchestra that eventually becomes mournfully whistful, even nostalgic. A harp (01:23) and cymbals (01:31) can be heard as this theme is developed. At 02:01 the harpsichord draws us back in a more uncomfortable direction, the flamenco style guitar and orchestra continue to wrestle with the theme until a fairly satisfying resolution (via a glockenspiel trill and cymbals at 03:02-06) is reached at 03:20.

Composer John Dowland (Galliard)

An article on Dowland (1563-1626) can be found here at Wikipedia.  Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, singer and lutenist. On the album, Akkerman performs three Dowland tracks, one with orchestra and rhythm section and two on solo lute:

1 Britannia (with orchestra) [better known as Fantasia No 7]
3 The Earl of Derby his Galliard [ie the fifth earl, Ferdinando Stanley c 1559-1594]
6 A Galliard [ie the Earl of Essex's, [ie the second earl, Robert Devereux 1565-1601]

Galliard
(Wikipedia) The galliard (gaillarde, in French; gagliarda in Italian) was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. It is mentioned in dance manuals from England, France, Spain, Germany and Italy, among others.
Musical compositions in the galliard form appear to have been written and performed long after the dance fell out of popular use. In musical compositions, the galliard often filled the role of an after dance written in 6, which followed and mimicked another piece (sometimes a pavane) written in 4. The distinctive 6 beats to the phrase can still be heard today in songs such as "God Save the Queen".

Composers

The tracks on the album were composed by Jan Akkerman and George Flynn along with five composers from the Elizabethan age (she reigned 1558-1603) the age of William Shakespeare, who lived 1564-1616.

These are

John Dowland 1563-1626

Francis Pilkington 1565-1638

Anthony Holborne c 1545-1602

Thomas Morley 1556/7-1602

Laurencini of Rome c 1550-1608