Music for Comus - Antic and Corant by William Lawes

The Antic dances of a masque were performed by professional dancers using preposterous gestures in the guise of some sort of subhuman species such as witches, apes or, in the case of John Milton's Comus, the entourage of the god of revelry 'a rout of monsters like men and women but headed like wild beasts their apparel glistering'.

An orphaned piece labelled 'Antic' by William Lawes (1602-1645) exists in a manuscript in two parts, treble and bass - here it is played with inner parts for 2nd violin and bass viol by Christopher Verrette. You will then hear a corant from Lawes' Royal Consort Set No. 5 in D maj. which has held notes in all parts at the beginning calling to mind The Witches' Dance from Macbeth and the Masque of Queens by Robert Johnson of the previous generation of masque music. The Musicians In Ordinary string band is led by Christopher Verrette, 1st vln. with Patricia Ahern, 2nd vln. Felix Deak and Laura Jones, violas da gamba and John Edwards, theorbo.