This is a beautiful record, and I'm happy that they have such elaborate liner notes. Toronto's The Passamezzo Players were founded as a trio in 1979, though by this 1983 recording, they had expanded into a four-piece. They specialized in the performance of medieval, renaissance and early baroque music, using period instruments that included recorders, vielle, rebec, psaltry, lute, viola de gamba, harpsichord, and early violin.

First, let's tell you about the group. Jan Goodman (recorders, virginal) was (is?) a journalist in toronto, and edited Toronto's early music journal Continuo, during its first four years. Kevin James (harmonizations, early violin) was at the time persuing a Music degree at Carleton University. Heide MacMahon (bass viol) was born and raised in Germany, but came to Canada in 1958 after studying the viol for two years in England. Peg Parsons (lute) was born in New York, and ended up in Toronto after marrying a zoologist.

The music is also quite interesting on its own. The songs on this album were all written by John Playford, from his collection of songs called The English Dancing Master from 1651. "The melodies taken from this collection of 104 dances have been compared with a facsimile of the original manuscript; in each case the original key and musical form have been retained. With the issue of this album, many of these tunes are recorded for the first time."

The four samples I've selected here are all lovely dances, and they easily transport the listener back almost 400 years.

Cheerily and Merrily (1651)
Hit and Misse (1651)
Oranges and Lemons (1665)
Parson's Farewell (1651)