Early Music Round-up,
Early Music Round-Up - February 2024
Meanwhile in England, Phantasm continue their exploration of Matthew Locke's unconventional consort music, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood and Anna Szałucka present an unusual programme of Handel arrangements (featuring the musicological talents of the indefatigable Timothy Jones), and Solomon's Knot offer an extraordinary double album of the largely forgotten music of England's answer to Monteverdi, George Jeffreys.
There's no shortage of world premiere recordings - not just the wonderful Italianate sound-world of Jeffreys but also an entire opus of dramatic solo songs by Barbara Strozzi, and flute sonatas by Jean-Baptiste Quentin. And in honour of the recent Feast of St Valentine, Ensemble Peregrina and Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett mark the day with a collection of early settings of the Song of Solomon, ranging from the tenth century to the fifteenth.
We've also been busy on the editorial side of things - if you've missed our most recent articles focused on early music, then this is your chance to catch up with our interviews with Robert Hollingworth on supersized Benevoli, with Rachel Podger and Chad Kelly on their Baroque-chamber reincarnation of Bach's Goldberg Variations, with Raphaël Pichon on his new recording of Monteverdi's Vespers, and with Christophe Rousset on Lully's Atys. And don't miss our Weelkes Special over on the Presto Classical Podcast!
Recordings
Perhaps the best-known piece of French Baroque music, due to the use of its opening as the theme for the Eurovision broadcasting network, Charpentier's Te Deum takes on a new level of drama in this lively performance from the aptly-named Ensemble Les Surprises; its partner-work by Henri Desmarest (written for the same forces) strikes a similarly grandiose tone, though centred around the unusual key of B major rather than the familiar martial D major. Both works offer their numerous soloists opportunities to excel in a dizzying variety of combinations.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Gentleman Extraordinary: Anthems, Services, and Instrumental Music by Thomas Weelkes
Resurgam, The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, Mark Duley
Having played second fiddle to William Byrd throughout the two composers' anniversary year last year, Thomas Weelkes receives a little much-deserved attention with this delightful calling-card of an album. A gifted madrigalist and innovative writer of church music, his ninth evening service is a particularly impressive work. Lasting over quarter of an hour, and with the assistance of the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble, it's a peak of Tudor magnificence that's hard to equal.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Something of a lockdown project from Élisabeth Joyé - like so many other artists, taking the opportunity to turn the enforced isolation of 2020-21 to positive use by renewing her relationship with the early keyboard repertoire. It's a deeply personal collection, drawing together works evoking Joyé's teacher Gustav Leonhardt, rare keyboard works by primarily vocal composers such as Luigi Rossi, and exploratory compositions relying on specific temperaments. The use of an instrument pitched a full fourth below standard concert pitch for some of the pieces, and another pitched an octave above for others, creates an unusually varied sonic palette.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Neither flat nor sharp in the modern sense, but 'just right'...! Locke shows his Gesualdo-esque side in these inventive works - never quite breaking the harmonic rules, yet at times bending them almost to breaking point. Expect bold turns and strange twists (as well as the concluding half of the 'Flat Consort for my Cousin Kemble' for treble viol and two bass viols, begun on their 2018 Locke album) as Phantasm return to this neglected but fascinating composer.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Byrd: Sacred Works
The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, Fifth Avenue, New York, Nicolas Haigh (organ), Jeremy Filsell, Gerre Hancock
Past and present join hands on this album - with new recordings of some of Byrd's greatest sacred choral works by Jeremy Filsell and the choir of St Thomas's Fifth Avenue, New York alongside a re-release of the same choir performing the complete Great Service under Gerre Hancock in 1981. Performance practice may have changed somewhat over nearly half a century, but both choirs capture in their own way the unique quality of Byrd's music - in particular his ability to create engaging and compelling compositions even under the strict rules of reforming liturgists such as Thomas Cranmer.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Another one for my list of 'not historically informed, but...' exceptions! True, this recital is all arrangements for modern trumpet and piano (by Freeman-Attwood himself and the esteemed Timothy Jones), and there's not a whiff of harpsichord or Baroque trumpet anywhere. Nevertheless, the re-imagined versions of concerti grossi, sonatas and arias stand on their own merits. No surprises at Where'er you walk making an appearance - but the trumpet's bright tone gives a refreshing spin on this oft-heard favourite.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
A true rediscovery - the 'English Monteverdi'. While many a history book may tell us that nothing of interest happened in English music between Byrd and Purcell, the music of George Jeffreys begs to differ. The vivid, soloistic stile nuovo of Monteverdi and his contemporaries is here married to highly original English sacred texts - it's frankly astonishing that Jeffreys has been forgotten by history up until now, and if there's any justice this album should jump-start the process of returning him to his rightful place in history. Watch out for an interview coming up soon with organist William Whitehead, whose brainchild this project was.
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Even as the works of neglected female composers finally start to garner something approaching the attention they deserve, many such works still have yet to receive a premiere recording. Soprano Giulia Bolcato does her bit to continue righting the balance with this album, presenting the complete songs from Barbara Strozzi's Op. 8 - dramatic, sensitive and often groundbreaking monodies that are dramatic scenes in miniature. Likely written for Strozzi to sing while accompanying herself, perhaps the most striking is the self-referential L'Astratto, which portrays a dissatisfied composer toying with musical ideas.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Vox dilecti mei. The Voice of My Beloved. The Earliest Settings of the Song of Solomon (10th - 15th century)
Ensemble Peregrina, Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett
A little late for Valentine's Day! Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett's Ensemble Peregrina continue to explore the earliest days and darkest corners of the Western canon - turning their attention to the inspiration offered by the sensuous poetry of the Biblical Song of Solomon and including works over a thousand years old. Compositions by St Hildegard of Bingen and texts coming from the female monastic tradition sit alongside Budzińska-Bennett's own reconstructions of proto-plays like the Regensburg Drama, which brings to life some of the texts and characters of the Song of Solomon.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Corelli & Quentin: Flute Sonatas
Anna Besson (flute), Jean Rondeau (early keyboard instruments), Myriam Rignol (viola da gamba)
This first recording of the flute sonatas of Jean-Baptiste Quentin is perfectly complemented by a selection of violin sonatas by the composer who evidently inspired him - Arcangelo Corelli. Corelli's sonatas were so popular - winning the praise of Bach and Couperin among others - that it is no surprise that flute transcriptions of them quickly emerged. The agility required of the soloist is prodigious, but Besson rises to the challenge and offers dazzling accounts of both Corelli and Quentin.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Books
The Gregorian Melody is a resource of music pedagogy that centres on one of the most ancient musical repertoires honoured by the church and music historians. Though it may not be common to see the word 'expressive' describing Gregorian chant, a repertoire often associated with subdued solemnity, this volume by renowned scholar and practitioner Alberto Turco includes an abundance of insights into the Gregorian art and proposes that chant is first and foremost sung prayer, an interaction of word and melody, which both include proper and appropriate expression.
Available Format: Book
We know Mozart as one of history’s greatest composers. But his contemporaries revered him as a multi-instrumentalist, a dazzling improviser, and the foremost keyboard virtuoso of his time. When he composed, it was often with a single aim in mind: to set the stage, quite literally, for compelling and captivating performances. He wrote piano concertos not with an eye to posterity but to give himself a repertoire with which to flaunt his keyboard wizardry before an awestruck public. The same was true of his sonatas, string quartets, symphonies, and operas, all of which were painstakingly crafted to produce specific effects on those who played or heard them, amusing, stirring, and ravishing colleagues and consumers alike. Mozart the Performer brings to life this elusive side of Mozart’s musicianship.
Available Format: Book
David Smith - Head of Digital
