Peter Paul Rubens - Music Of His Time

Popular opinion has dealt harshly with Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640): there are too many gods and goddesses in his paintings and the women are too large. But through changing fashions, the strength and vigour of his work are still a marvel: in a Rubens even the darkness seems to glow. On this CD, the world of Rubens is given a musical perspective with a carefully chosen selection of pieces by the finest composers of his time. Inside, Hugh Griffith provides explanatory notes on his life and musical environment.

The various forms of art - visual art, architecture, literature, and music - develop at different times. Very often music is the last to adopt and absorb new sensibilities, while the visual arts lead. So it is salutary to discover, as we do in the absorbing booklet essay that accompanies the CD, how much Rubens in his imagination was ahead of the music of the time. How well did Rubens know Monteverdi at Mantua? Did he hear John Bull play at Antwerp Cathedral? These and other fascinating connections enrich both Rubens' art and the chosen music - by Susato, Dowland, Lobo, Monteverdi, Schutz, Bull, Gibbons, and Lawes.