Virginal Music - Byrd, William 1539/40-1623; Koopman, Ton 1944- ([Netherlands] Philips, 1983)
Koopman plays a harpsichord by Willem Kroesbergen after Stephanini.
In the liner notes, Koopman offers a survey of the history and afterlife of the 'Fitzwilliam Virginal Book,' and argues against the "definitive" critical edition, which he finds “frequently tantamount to a compilation of the best bars from different manuscripts, the result being an edition which no longer resembles the original text. Consequently, it is better to follow one manuscript and play from that, correcting the possible errors, but not introducing improvements, and accepting that such a text represented one of the historical versions of a work."
incl. The Bells, Walsingame Variations, Pavana Lachrymae, O Mistris Myne
Keywords: 17th Century (1601-1700); Keyboard music; Virginal; Prelude; Fantasia; Pavan; Galliard; Theme and variations; United Kingdom