Esfahani breathes new life into English virginalist classics

'A compendium of keyboard works by the so-called 'English virginalists', whose music speaks with a quiet power,' writes Kate Bolton-Porciatti. 'These works have sometimes been handled as trifles or decorative miniatures, but Iranian-American harpischordist Mahan esfahani treats them as profoundly expressive and introspective works.

Here measured, there free, his readings highlight the ebb and flow of their poetry and prose; phrases and rhetorically articulated.'

The Passinge Mesures

Works by Bull, Byrd, Dowland, Farnaby, Gibbons, Inglot, and Tomkins

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

Freya Parr

Published: November 26, 2018 at 4:22 pm

Here measured, there free, his readings highlight the ebb and flow of their poetry and prose; phrases and rhetorically articulated.'

The Passinge Mesures

Works by Bull, Byrd, Dowland, Farnaby, Gibbons, Inglot, and Tomkins

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

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Freya Parr

Digital Editor and Staff Writer, BBC Music Magazine

Freya Parr is BBC Music Magazine's digital editor and staff writer, editing and writing on all styles of music across both the website and print magazine. She has also written for titles including the Guardian, Circus Journal, Frankie and Suitcase Magazine, and runs The Noiseletter, a fortnightly arts and culture publication. Freya's main areas of interest and research lie in 20th-century and contemporary music. She's a regular sea shanty singer, folk obsessive and occasional flautist, pianist, organist and musical theatre director.

Esfahani breathes new life into English virginalist classics

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