Our name comes from the title of English composer Robert Jones 5th Book of Ayres (1610), which he imaginatively named “The Muses Gardin for Delights”. He saw the publicity-value in finding intriguing titles for his publications, naming his 3rd and 4th Books of Songs “Ultimum Vale” and “A Musicall Dreame” respectively.

We like to intrigue and please our audiences just as much!

Ambient Music

Background “early” music adds a delightful ambience to events in historic venues. This can range from dreamy Elizabethan love-songs played on lute/recorders to foot-tapping dances from the time of Henry VIII up to the 17th-18th century, when a “country-dance” craze swept through the country. The group can be expanded to include Renaissance Brass/Percussion for added excitement, and we can also perform in historic costume.

Formal Concerts

We specialise in "themed" programmes of the Renaissance/Baroque repertoire (British/European) e.g. Shakespeare and Love! and Fain Would I Wed! Our lively approach with spoken introductions/readings contemporary with the music itself, (e.g. from Pepys' Diary or Queen Elizabeth's own pithy comments on Marriage/Matters of State etc), makes our concerts well-loved by the concert new-comer and early-music aficionado alike. We are always delighted to devise new programmes for specific requirements.

Sample Programme: 

Come Ashore Merry Mates!

    Journeys through the 16th and 17th centuries by seas, rivers and floods of tears. Includes Campion’s Never weatherbeaten sail, Dowland’s Flow my tears, and rarer songs by Pilkington, Greaves and Coprario; also Ave Maris Stella (as Plainsong and as used by Monteverdi), and the Welsh Wyrth Afonydd Babilon.

Education:

We also present informal workshops for children, successfully using our own ‘classroom’ instruments for children to participate in 16th and 17th century music making.