[T]he first monograph on the topic to appear in a period of fifteen years . . . [and] an important and overdue contribution to contemporary Lawes scholarship. . . . [B]eautifully and carefully produced. Particularly useful are the many reproductions of Lawes's manuscripts and musical examples, and especially the detailed descriptions of Lawes's autograph manuscripts.
JOURNAL OF SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC ... Read more
[A] thorough and highly authoritative account, which will no doubt long remain essential reading for anyone interested not only in Lawes but also in his close contemporaries [...] an indispensable first port of call for all studies of Lawes's instrumental music.
JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR MUSICOLOGY IN IRELAND
[T]his is a beautifully produced book. [...] John Cunningham has produced a very fine account of Lawes's instrumental music, shedding new light on its chronology, style, and compositional method. His book will surely take its place as one of the most substantial and important studies of English consort music yet to have appeared.
MUSIC AND LETTERS
This is an ambitious and wide-ranging book. [...] Cunningham's study deserves to be seen as a scrupulous and positive addition to musicological literature.
THE CONSORT
[T]o have such a detailed, proficient and comprehensive survey of what William Lawes actually wrote in the consort genre is a delight. [...] together with Cunningham's approachable manner of writing [...] this not only the definitive volume on its subject. But an extremely readable one too.
CLASSICAL.NET
[I]mpressive in its precision and scholarship: there is no doubt that it will remain an essential point of reference in the study of 17th-century English consort music for many years to come.
EARLY MUSIC
Cunningham's account of Charles's court is vivid, and he describes the music made for it precisely. To the specialist, the chapter on Lawes's autograph manuscripts alone will keep the book current for many years, since here one may catch Lawes in the process of composition.
Peter Phillips
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
Show Less