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While the instrument of choice for many of the composers featured on this recording was the lute, it was certainly not the only instrument employed for vocal accompaniment. Campion, for instance, gave performers great latitude, indicating that his works are designed “to be sung to the Lute and Viols, in two, three, and foure Parts, or by one Voyce to an instrument.” Similarly, many of Dowland’s ayres are accompanied by both lute tablatures and extra parts to be sung or played. The instrumentation on this recording reflects these multiple performance choices: several ayres are accompanied by lute or harpsichord, while others lent themselves to different expressive possibilities. In “Oh God that Guides the Cheerful Sun,” for example, the clear, sweet sonority of the cornetto blends with the voice, in a sense illustrating the gentle glitter of the rising sun. And while Dowland set certain texts to dance-like instrumental music, conversely, in this recording of Wilbye’s marvelous madrigal “Adew, Sweet Amaryllis,” the four vocal parts are interpreted instrumentally, by a “broken consort” of viols, cornetto and lute. Henry Purcell, whose music concludes the recording, continued the lute-song tradition until the end of the 17th century, paying even greater attention to rhetoric and expression of the text. In “Sweeter than Roses,” Purcell manages to maintain a sense of unity even while he highlights every word and stylistic element; he thus reveals the poem’s subject—the kiss—only after 15 languorous measures, heightening the sense of anticipation already present in the text. “Here the Deities Approve” is the most moving part of an ode for St. Cecilia’s Day (Welcome to All the Pleasures), which recalls that music, like love, is a gift from the gods.