Philips Pavana & Galiarda Dolorosa (Simon Lloyd, Harpsichord)
Pavana & Galiarda Dolorosa by Peter Philips (1560/1-1628) from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
(Galiarda 08:11)
The Pavana is titled 'Doloroso. Treg[ian]', an apparent dedication to Francis Tregian the Younger, the longer-assumed copyist of the FVB. The Galiarda is titled 'Dolorosa', the form more commonly seen. Each piece is in three sections complete with written out repeats. They each follow the same harmonic structure, with short octave gymnastics appearing in the 3rd strain of both.
A short octave was a convenient way of extending the renaissance F-compass keyboard down a 4th to C while only extending the length of the keyboard by one note. On such a keyboard, bottom E, F# and G# actually sound the notes C, D and E. This means that one can sound alternating 10ths while actually just playing octaves; it is this quirk that Philips exploits here. Philips also includes low G# which require a broken octave (as here), where the F# and G# keys are split to provide those notes in addition to low D and E.
Recorded at home in my music room on an Italian harpsichord after Pisaurensis, 1533 made by Colin Booth in 2009. This single-strung instrument has a short and broken octave and is tuned in quarter-comma meantone.
The harpsichord in the background is a double manual after Mietke built by Alan Gotto in 2015. Details of both instruments are on my website:
https://simon-lloyd.com/