"Her Majesty lay upon her back, with one hand in the bed and the other without. The bishop kneeled down by her, and examined her first of her faith: and she so punctually answered all his several questions by lifting up her eyes and holding up her hand, as it was a comfort to all beholders. Then the good man told her plainly, what she was and what she was to come to, and though she had been long a great Queen here upon earth, yet shortly she was to yield an account of her stewardship to the King of Kings. Between one and two of the clock on Thursday morning, he brought me word the Queen was dead."

Thus wrote the queen’s cousin Sir Robert Carey, recording in his memoirs the events of March 23rd-24th 1603, and the end of an era in England’s history. Earlier, as Elizabeth I lay dying she called for her musicians to play around her bed so that “she may die gaily as she had lived, and that the horrors of death might be lessened; she heard the music tranquilly until her last breath”.

As the 400th anniversary of her death approaches, The Queen’s Goodnight commemorates the music of the court of Queen Elizabeth I. The queen’s professional musical establishment was in some ways more modest than that of her father, Henry VIII, but she brought together the finest talent in the land and created collections of consort, lute and keyboard music that is still renowned today.

Charivari Agréable demonstrate representative facets of this wonderful 16th century repertory. The pieces are selected with a passionate attention to detail and Charivari Agréable have included music that depicts the life of the queen: music from the court, an exhilarating depiction of a hunt, celebrations from the queen’s coronation and the moving laments on her death.

On The Queen's Goodnight, Charivari Agréable have once again performed with skill and charm, producing wonderful orchestrations with an historical accuracy that mirrors the paintings and writings of the day.

Een muzikale afbeelding van het leven van Koningin Elizabeth I
Sir Robert Carey, neef van Koningin Elizabeth I, deed in zijn memoires verslag van de gebeurtenissen haar overlijden op 24 maart 1603. Terwijl Elizabeth op haar sterfbed lag, verzocht ze haar musici om rondom haar bed te spelen zodat ze, in de woorden van Carey “net zo opgewekt mocht sterven als ze geleefd had en de verschrikkingen van de dood verminderd zouden kunnen worden; ze luisterde kalm naar de muziek tot aan haar laatste adem.”

The Queen’s Goodnight herdenkt de muziek van het hof van Koningin Elizabeth I. Haar muzikale hofhouding was in sommige opzichten bescheidener dan die van haar vader, Henry VIII, maar ze bracht de voortreffelijkste talenten in het land bijeen en stelde collecties van ensemble-, luit-, en klaviermuziek samen die nu nog steeds beroemd zijn.

Charivari Agréable toont de representatieve facetten van dit prachtige 16e-eeuwse repertoire. De werken zijn geselecteerd op basis van een hartstochtelijke aandacht voor detail. Het album bevat werken die het leven van de koningin afbeelden: muziek van het hof, een opwindende afbeelding van de jacht, vieringen ter gelegenheid van haar kroning en ontroerende klaagliederen over haar dood. De uitvoeringen van Charivari Agréable zijn opnieuw kundig en charmant. Het ensemble produceert prachtige orkestraties met een historische nauwkeurigheid die de schilderijen en geschriften van de periode weerspiegelen.