In this lively and varied collection, Paul Hillier leads Theatre of Voices and viol consort Fretwork in a selection of settings from The Cries of London. In these fascinating works, viol consort accompanies – sometimes comically, sometimes poignantly – the raucous voices of 16th-century London’s street-vendors, mendicants, tradesmen, river-taxis and town criers. The melodies, the rhythms and the pulse of daily life in the England of Shakespeare and Elizabeth I are made extraordinarily present in these works by composers from that place and time, including Orlando Gibbons (private virginalist to the Prince of Wales and organist at Westminster Abbey), Richard Dering, Thomas Ravenscroft (who as a teenager collected and published popular songs and ballads) and Thomas Weelkes (the organist at Winchester Cathedral). Familiar folk tunes such as that of “Three Ravens” also appear here, and dance-based fantasies for the viol consort round out the program.