Jacobean Keyboard Music

Selected from Musica Britannica Volume 96. Edited by Alan Brown.

All eighteen pieces in this collection are reliably dated to the reign of James I, and whether by named composers or anonymous ones, appear in sources other than the notable virginal books preserved in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. The contents demonstrate the variety of forms in the keyboard repertoire of this period, from plainsong-based compositions to dances by Orlando Gibbons. The 'Pretty ways for young beginners to look on', possibly by Thomas Tomkins, are a fascinating example of music contemporary to the time, written with the didactic purpose of instructing musicians in the techniques of counterpoint.