Phantasm, Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford - John Ward - Fantasies & Verse Anthems (2014)

Featuring ambitious and accomplished music for voices and viols, Ward: Fantasies & Verse Anthems offers a privileged glimpse of a special moment in English music history. The four-part viol fantasies show a fluent and skillful style exemplifying Jacobean consort fantasy at its best. The Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, Emily Ashton and Christopher Terepin join Phantasm to perform Wards verse anthems that contain an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of textures and generous word painting amidst a polyphonic swirl of viols. This recording is a fitting tribute to John Ward, whose efforts have been rediscovered in our own time and whose mellifluous music deserves a closer look. The award-winning ensemble has been applauded across the globe for its moving performances and is recognized as the most exciting viol consort active on the world scene today. Critics have described their performances and recordings as 'intoxicating', 'revelatory', 'electrifying', and interpretations pervaded by a truly burning spirit'.