Pastime with good company, for three mixed voices choirs :
Written in three voices, Pastime with good company is representative of the song at the beginning of the 16th century in reaction against the sophistication of the previous century. Simple, strophic, homorhythmic, its cheerful character will make it popular quickly in Scotland at first and then in England where it spreads under many arrangements.
A piece probably falsely attributed to Henry VIII in a manuscript containing several secular and sacred works - for a king in the Renaissance must have all talents - Pastime with good company illustrates well the carefree and idle life of a nobility that has time to sing and entertain itself.
Pastime with good company, early 16th century song for three-part mixed choir (SAB).
