A whole disc of Holborne’s music, for which I have long had special affection, is a delightful prospect in itself; when it is as imaginatively programmed and played as it is here it becomes irresistible. Most of the items in this recording come from his collection of 65 dances for five-part consort (1599); The King’s Noyse take Holborne’s option in using violins instead of viols. The pieces are grouped to trace the course of Holborne’s life from ‘his happy youth’ through his marriage, the birth of his child, his mid-life to his death. Finally, ‘we follow his soul to Paradise and reflect on the hope that the legacy of his music will endure.’ In their lute-solo versions, The funerals and Paradizo are said to relate to the Countess of Pembroke (who may have been a leading lady of culture and a patroness of Edmund Spenser), but in the context of this programme these pieces are taken as ‘advance notice’ of Holborne’s own death and heavenly destiny. Holborne (who served at the court of Queen Elizabeth) and Dowland (who badly wished to but never did) are two of the most immediately recognizable composers of their time; solemnity was well within Holborne’s compass but, unlike Dowland, he was not given to self-pity – which makes him a consistently cheerful companion. I can think of no respect in which this recording is less than excellent: the material, its performance, recording and presentation are of the highest order. A winner in the consort field, if ever there was one.'