TRACK LISTING

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MAYNARD: The XII Wonders of the World CHARACTER SONGS: CAMPION:\nJack and Joan. HUME: Tobacco, tobacco. RAVENSCROFT: Yonder comes a\ncourteous knight. PARSONS: Joan quoth John. ANONYMOUS: A poor soul\nsat sighing. The dark is my delight. Oh let us howle. Come live\nwith me and be my love. What is’t ye lack?

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To mark the reissue of this important Consort of Musicke\nrecording, Anthony Rooley writes: Of all the English Lute-Song\nBooks of the Elizabethan/Jacobean Era none has been more\nmisunderstood, nor wilfully maligned as John Maynard’s unique\ncreation. Highly individual, full of rare humour, amazing invention\n– and at times quite exquisite poignancy – it deserves better!

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Here is music from the very heart of elite Jacobean society;\nthis is functional music intended to entertain and delight Noble\nSociety and Intelligentsia, and specifically at the end of the\nFeast of Christmas, at Twelfth Night partying. Painted ‘roundels’\nwere customarily placed at each guest’s seat at the banquet where\none side was plain, turned upmost, with the underside painted in\ncharacterful style with one of the basic human characters (there\nwere thought to be twelve basic personality types according to\nRenaissance psychology).

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Here is functional social music of the most elevated order,\nfilled with humour and social reference. Listening again to these\ndelightful pieces, I am transported into the very heart, mind and\nphilosophy of this wonderfully obscure era of English Culture – at\ntimes seeming almost like an anticipation of ‘Monty Python-esque’\nblack humour that lies at the very heart of ‘Englishness’.

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Original notes and well as texts of the songs are included with\nthis release, the first release on CD.

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‘…the singing is most attractive, the accompaniments\nrhythmically supportive, the recording clear and efficient’\nGramophone

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