SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................................................... Phantasm plays “like angels singing.” This was the verdict of BBC World Affairs correspondent John Simpson who presented Phantasm with a 2004 Gramophone Award for its recording of Viol Consorts by Gibbons (AV 0032). The ensemble continues to explore the rich sound world of the golden age of Elizabethan England with this release. Listening to the consorts of John Jenkins you could be forgiven for thinking they were written specially for Phantasm, each player from treble to bass viol performing virtuostic feats that are the equal of their colleagues, six voices blending together in extraordinarily sonorous counterpoint. Described in their day as “sublime discourses” and “divine raptures”, Jenkins’ consorts perfectly suit the modern-day mentality of Phantasm’s striking unity of ensemble, unmatched by any other viol ensemble playing today.
TRACK LISTING .................................................................................................................................................................................... John JENKINS (1592 - 1678)
1. Fantasy 9 in d (3:26)
2. In nomine 1 in g (3:58)
3. Fantasy 2 in c (3:06)
4. Pavan in F (7:08)
5. Fantasy 8 in a (3:36)
6. Fantasy 4 in d (3:14)
7. Fantasy 11 in g (3:25)
8. Fantasy 3 in c (3:37)
9. Fantasy 1 in c (4:48)
10. In nomine 2 in e (3:49)
11. Fantasy 12 in a (3:51)
12. Fantasy 5 in d (4:48
13. Fantasy 10 in e (3:26
14. Bell Pavan in a (5:20)
15. Fantasy 6 in d (3:51)
16. Fantasy 7 in a (4:36)
Total time: 66:07
Phantasm:
Laurence Dreyfus, treble viol and director
Wendy Gillespie, treble viol
Jonathan Manson, tenor viol
Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, bass viol
with Emilia Benjamin, tenor viol and Mikko Perkola, bass viol
Recording Producer: Jonathan Freeman-Attwood
Recording Engineer: Simon Fox-Gál
Recorded at the Chapel of Merton College,
Oxford, England, 25-27 August 2005
