Ayre (Suite 8 in d minor) - Matthew Locke (1621-1677)

This Ayre belongs to one of Locke’s instrumental suites, unique in their style. Locke and his contemporaries developed a peculiar musical style in which baroque forms are intertwined with “bizarre“ modulations and colours that were unknown on the European continent... In the years of the reign of Charles II, the taste for the Masque was disappearing and a new form was gradually consolidated, the semi-opera (equivalent to the zarzuela in Spain); an example of a semi-opera is the well-known “The Fairy Queen“ by the great composer Henry Purcell (1659–1695). Despite this, a contemporary composer of Henry Purcell such as Matthew Locke (1621-1677) still wrote music for a Masque, “Cupid and Death“ in 1653. MUSICKES DELIGHT Lobke Sprenkeling - tenor recorder Óscar Gallego - viola da gamba Pedro Jesús Gómez - archlute Musickes Delight is an ensemble dedicated to the interpretation of music mainly focussing on English and French Renaissance