After a program of works thematically centered around Renaissance composer John Dowland's Lachrimae Pavans (ECM 2189), violinist John Holloway and his ensemble now turn their attention to the "Fantazias" of Baroque composer Henry Purcell. In his extensive accompanying text to the fantasias, Holloway notes that "in retrospect, one is tempted to see this brilliant condensation of the very best of Byrd, Lawes, Jenkins, and Locke as a personal farewell to a musical form that would soon be replaced by sonatas in his own chamber music as well." Purcell's fantasias are considered some of the finest and most challenging works in the genre, boasting profound counterpoint and great mastery of all the polyphonic techniques of the day. Holloway and his ensemble's performance of the three- and four-part fantasies offers a deep insight into the structure of the compositions and reveals a new perspective on a composer who, as Holloway notes, possessed the extraordinary ability "to tread the fine line between joy and sorrow, to give miraculous expression to the melancholy that was such a characteristic feature of his time."