The heyday of English consort music coincided with the exciting shift in musical style between 1580 and 1630 from the renaissance to the early baroque period. William Byrd and his successors made their mark with sacred and secu- lar songs, fantasies and dances. Honouring the 400th anni- versary of William Byrd's death, this album displays the diversity and richness in colour of consort music. On the one hand, English composers employed a strikingly sophisticated writing style, whilst on the other hand taking up popular music of their time. The results were atmos- pheric musical pictures reflecting the deep melancholy, pious confidence and full-bodied joie de vivre of Shakespeare's era