Speaking the language of the past: Patrick Ayrton goes beyond Sir Philip Sidney with Astrophil & Stella inspired by the world of English 17th-century composers

Lauren Lodge Campbell, Patrick Ayrton & ensemble recording Astrophil & Stella for VOCES8 Records

The more literary-minded amongst you may recall that Astrophil & Stella is the name of a sonnet sequence by the Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586). Containing some 108 sonnets, the sequence was written in the 1580s and printed in 1591, five years after Sidney's death. Contemporary composer Patrick Ayrton has taken the name Astrophil & Stella for his new song cycle, which is released on VOCES8 Records with soprano Lauren Lodge-Campbell and an instrumental ensemble which Patrick directs from the harpsichord.

Patrick is best known as an organ scholar and harpsichordist; he was Ton Koopman's assistant and currently teaches at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. His Astrophil & Stella cycle takes its inspiration from Patrick's fascination with the world of Purcell, Blow, Locke, and other seventeenth-century English composers, and Patrick sets texts by Shakespeare, Sir Philip Sidney, Ben Jonson, and John Lyly.

Sir Philip Sidney after Antonis Mor

As a keyboard player, Patrick has always improvised and, in fact, did so as a child. He comments that the best way to learn something is to teach it, and when he started teaching improvisation, he found he needed a methodical way of teaching the subject. For him, the line between composing and improvising is blurry. The difference is temporal; Patrick views improvisation as simply composing in the present moment. At some point, he realised that he should write down some of his improvisations. 

When teaching, his improvisation is in Baroque style, so when he sat down to write something, his influence was the English 17th-century music that he loves. This is the style that he wants to express himself in. The first part of Astrophil & Stella was the overture, and then he was looking for texts. If possible, he has chosen poetry that has not been set before. He chose two sonnets from Philip Sidney's sequence, and this gave rise to the name of the song cycle.

Patrick's aim was not to copy the existing music of the 17th century. He does not regard the work as a pastiche; instead, he wanted to express himself in this language. He uses the example of an old recipe. You might follow it, but you would add your own ingredients so that the result was not exact, but respected it as much as possible. It would not be a replica but his take on the recipe. Patrick sees his music as just like this; it is not Early Music, nor is it strictly contemporary, rather it is his attempt at speaking the language of the past.

Another surprising thread to Patrick's music is prog rock. As a young man, Patrick listened to bands such as Genesis, Yes and Gentle Giant. How these bands used elements of classical music in their output fascinated him. And he admits that there are some elements of symphonic rock in Astrophil & Stella, a few mannerisms from Genesis. For instance, in Under the Greenwood Tree, Patrick admits that there are some things that he probably heard on a 1977 Genesis album!

Astrophil & Stella is his first major composition. Before this, he had written just two songs, including one for his wife, who was doing a project on Alfred de Musset, so the song set one of his texts in the style of Reynaldo Hahn. 

Having written and recorded Astrophil & Stella, Patrick is now working on another cycle. This one takes Italian music of the 17th century as its inspiration, notably the music of Monteverdi and Cavalli.

Whether it is 17th-century English or Italian music, Patrick spends a considerable amount of time looking at it under the microscope, following the 'recipes' and adding his own ideas.

Astrophil & Stella was recorded in Paris in 2024 using a period instrument ensemble led by Patrick's daughter, violinist Louise Ayrton, who assembled an ensemble with Patrick on harpsichord.

The disc is having its official launch in Paris on 22 October, and Patrick is rather pleased that all the instrumentalists from the disc are free to perform that evening. He will also be bringing an ensemble to London in February to perform (and film) the work at the VOCES8 Centre.

Patrick Ayrton: Astrophi & Stella - Lauren Lodge Campbell, Patrick Ayrton - VOCES8 Records VCM171.

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