Customer Reviews

My Ladye Nevells Booke of Virginal Music (Dover Music for Piano)

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William Byrd was the first composer to write music specially for the harpsichord or Virginal. His music is among the best for harpsichord and among my favorite music (I am a professional harpsichord player). This book gives you a splendid edition of his best music for a very low price. Highly recommended for all harpsichord players and others interested in Early Music or the harpsichord repertoire.

1. MY LADYE NEVELS GROWNDE
2. QUI PASSE: for my ladye nevell
3. THE MARCHE BEFORE THE BATTELL
4. THE BATTELL
5. THE GALLIARDE FOR THE VICTORIE
6. THE BARELYE BREAKE
7. A GALLIARDS GYGGE
8. THE HUNTES UPP
9. UT RE MI FA SOL LA
10. THE FIRSTE PAVIAN
11. THE GALLIARDE TO THE FIRSTE PAVIAN
12. THE SECONDE PAVIAN
13. THE GALLIARDE TO THE SECONDE PAVIAN
14. THE THIRD PAVIAN
15. THE GALLIARDE TO THE THIRD PAVIAN
16. THE FOURTH PAVIAN
17. THE GALLLIARDE TO THE FOURTH PAVIAN
18. THE FIFTE PAVIAN
19. THE GALLIARDE TO THE FIFTE PAVIAN
20. PAVANA THE SIXTE: KINBRUGH GOODD
21. THE GALLIARDE TO THE SIXTE PAVIAN
22. THE SEVENTH PAVIAN
23. THE EIGHTE PAVIAN
24. THE PASSINGE MESURES: THE NYNTHE PAVIAN
25. THE GALLIARDE TO THE THE NYNTHE PAVIAN
26. A VOLUNTARIE : for my ladye nevell
27. WILL YOW WALKE THE WOODS SOE WYLDE
28. THE MAIDENS SONGE
29. A LESSON OF VOLUNTARIE
30. THE SECOND OF GROWNDE
31. HAVE WITH YOW TO WALSINGAME
32. ALL IN A GARDEN GRINE
33. LORD WILLOBIES WELCOME HOME
34. THE CARMANS WHISTLE
35. HUGHE ASHTONS GROWNDE
36. A FANCIE
37. SELLINGERS ROWNDE
38. MUNSERS ALMAINE
39. THE TENNTHE PAVIAN: MR. W. PETER
40. THE GALLIARDE TO THE TENNTHE PAVIAN
41. A FANCIE
42. A VOLUNTARIE

I bought this and Vol I of "The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book" to help me understand Schott ("Playing The Harpsichord) better. This is a much thinner and thus less unwieldy tome than "The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book" but it is still a music desk destroyer in weight and will not lie flat unless the binding is broken. I'm grateful to Dover for the work but implore them to find a better and not necessarily more expensive form of presentation. As with the Fitzwilliam, this book has a lot of information and, glory be, it is set in a larger and easier to read type face. Most of us beginners are going to have to work hard to make music using this reference but the effort will have been worth it.

This is the best pre-Bach harpsichord music I've heard. You just enjoy listening to it. I did have one question. I am ready to purchase the book, but I know that music written before around 1700 had some very different clefs/staffs, Other than the normal treble and bass clefs, and the 5 line staff. Does this book contain any of those? If they do, someone please say so.

William Byrd wrote a lot of church music, and it's still performed. His keyboard music isn't performed, but I think that this music is really "listenable". It's not like most "classical" music. It's not "heavy". It's not bombastic like Beethoven, soporific like Mozart, sappy like Chopin, or chaotic like Schumann. It's pretty, it has cool rhythms, and there's a tonne of counterpoint for nerds. I can't see why anyone would dislike this stuff!