Phantasm - Lawes: Consorts to the Organ - Medieval Music and Arts Foundation

Like the earlier music discussed, consort music continues to benefit from interpretations with more experience of the repertory. Although the interpretations of 20 years ago sounded good to me (as opposed to those of some of the music above), they continue to improve. There's an intimacy that comes from performing this music together, much as classical string quartets refine their group sound over decades. In this case, Phantasm themselves have recorded this music before, but with the choice to exclude the organ. Here it is restored, and the result is compelling, including passages as surprising as anything Lawes wrote. Aside from the different instruments, this could almost be early 20th century music.