# John Ward



## steph01 (Dec 21, 2016)

John Ward was employed as a composer as part of the household staff of Sir Henry Fanshawe, King James the 1st's Remembrancer in the Exchequer. After Fanshawe died, he secured a desk job in the exchequer where he continued composing in his spare time.

He is probably best known for his madrigals and consort music for viols.

The finest recording for me as someone mainly interested in vocal music is the disc with Magdalen College Oxford and Phantasm. This is fabulously rich consort music expressively performed by the singers of the choir, and is one of my favourite recordings that I own. I do hope we will hear more of his music in the future.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

That's Phantasm's second record of John Ward , a mixture of viol and vocal music - for some reason, possibly not a good one, I've enjoyed it more than their first, which is instrumental music only. The sound of the Linn recording is fabulous, it's an excellent recording for testing hifi equipment. 

The Rose Consort of Viols recorded a very attractive Ward CD on CPO, I very much like the sound of their viols, their blend, and their emotional restraint.

The authentic blend in an English consort is an interesting area to think about, the consort L'Archeron have done quite a bit of work on this and I recommend their essay in the booklet to their recent Gibbons CD. I'd say that the Rose Consort's blend fits the music quite well, despite a not very big bass. 

The Deller Consort recorded a handful of songs by Ward which I think are rather good. And there's a sensational performance of a Ward song, Come Sable Night, by Hilliard Ensemble.


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