Peter Phillips (b.1560) was a Catholic. In 1582 he left England, worked a few years in Rome and then moved to Flanders.
This piece was probably intended for string instruments (viols, violins). It can, however, be played on wind instruments (recorders, or cornets and sackbuts.
It is perhaps worth noting that a passamezzo was normally danced considerably faster than a pavan. Given the degree of elaboration, Philips’ piece should certainly not be rushed, but it will also benefit from a pulse a little faster than that of a typical English pavan of its time.
(Bernard Thomas, London, 1987)
