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Special offer. Matthew Locke: The Little Consort

Fretwork

Matthew Locke: The Little Consort
The players obviously relish these convivial musical conversations and the album makes for felicitous listening and, for the uninitiated, a perfect introduction to Locke’s viol consorts.

Special offer. Matthew Locke: The Little Consort

Fretwork

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This release includes a digital booklet

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The players obviously relish these convivial musical conversations and the album makes for felicitous listening and, for the uninitiated, a perfect introduction to Locke’s viol consorts.

About

In November 2022 Fretwork return for the second instalment of their cycle of works by Matthew Locke. Matthew Locke was born 400 years ago in 1622, and while he is often ranked as one of England's finest composers, he is still unaccountably neglected: his music may not be as immediately appealing as his immediate successor, Henry Purcell, nor as wide-ranging as William Byrd, yet his forceful musical personality and luxuriant technique place him in the first echelon of English composers, with his works described by Richard Boothby of Fretwork as having a "quixotic, capricious restlessness that is constantly challenging the listener to follow his argument... a thrilling musical ride". Accompanying Fretwork on continuo for this recording are David Miller (archlute and theorbo) and Silas Wollston (harpsichord). The cover of the album bares an inscription in the walls by the choir stall of Exeter Cathedral, thought to have been carved by the composer during his time as a member of the choir there.

Contents and tracklist

I. Pavan
Track length3:07
II Ayre
Track length1:18
III. Courante
Track length1:10
IV. Saraband
Track length0:59
I. Pavan
Track length3:04
II. Ayre
Track length1:03
III. Courante
Track length1:22
IV. Saraband
Track length0:37
I. Pavan
Track length3:18
II. Ayre
Track length1:13
III. Courante
Track length1:13
IV. Saraband
Track length0:58
I. Pavan
Track length3:39
II. Ayre
Track length0:56
III. Courante
Track length1:19
IV. Saraband
Track length0:49
I. Pavan
Track length3:11
II. Ayre
Track length1:10
III. Courante
Track length0:51
IV. Saraband
Track length0:44
I. Pavan
Track length3:53
II. Ayre
Track length1:04
III. Courante
Track length1:11
IV. Saraband
Track length0:52
I. Pavan
Track length3:52
II Ayre
Track length1:24
III Courante
Track length1:01
IV Saraband
Track length0:46
I. Pavan
Track length3:52
II. Ayre
Track length1:38
III. Courante
Track length1:12
IV. Saraband
Track length0:38
I. Pavan
Track length3:55
II. Ayre
Track length1:10
III. Courante
Track length1:19
IV. Saraband
Track length0:34
I. Pavan
Track length3:58
II. Ayre
Track length1:15
III. Courante
Track length1:07
IV. Saraband
Track length0:35

Awards and reviews

January 2023

The players obviously relish these convivial musical conversations and the album makes for felicitous listening and, for the uninitiated, a perfect introduction to Locke’s viol consorts.

January 2023

Most intriguing are the fleeting moments when Fretwork do not sound like a viol consort. Locke’s designation of the book as ‘for viols or violins’ acknowledges that the viol was soon to be usurped by the violin; here, Fretwork embody this historical juncture through a flexibility and agility of stroke.

22nd January 2023

Fretwork navigate the sinuous and serpentine textures and rhythms with a fine feel for Locke’s music, which is at once complex and simplicity itself, and possesses a beautiful clarity and purity.
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