The Art of Variation - Sweelinck: Secular Cycles - Challenge Classics: CC72926 - CD or download

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Throughout, the playing is poised, gracious and rhetorically phrased. The historic harpsichord (preserved in the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Neuchâtel) is by Sweelinck ’s Flemish contemporary... — BBC Music Magazine, March 2023, 4 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 27th Jan 2023
Catalogue No: CC72926
Label: Challenge Classics
Length: 58 minutes

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Sweelinck: Ballo del Granduca

Work length4:47

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Pavana Philippi, SwWV 329

Work length8:13

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Mein junges Leben hat ein End

Work length5:51

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Onder een linde groen, SwWV 325

Work length5:12

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Ich fuhr mich vber Rheine, SwWV322

Work length6:22

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$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Pavana hispanica

Work length2:33

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Allemanda: Soll es sein

Work length7:51

$1.50

$2.10

$2.60

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Von der Fortuna werd ich getrieben - Engelse Fortuijn SwWV320 / N2

Work length3:12

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Esce mars

Work length4:26

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Paduana Lachrymae SwWV328

Work length5:20

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$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Malle Sijmen

Work length1:12

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$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

Sweelinck: Almande Gratie, SwWV318 / N7 'More Palatino'

Work length3:36

$1.00

$1.40

$1.75

Fabio Antonio Falcone (harpsichord)

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The leading Dutch label releases a disc of music by the greatest Dutch master, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Fabio Antonio Falcone presents the well known sets of variations on secular songs and dances. A specialist in 16th-century keyboard repertoire, Falcone revives these celebrated masterpieces, highlighting the wealth of their contrasting shades in a recording rich in contrasting colours, enhanced by the use of the famous Johannes Ruckers harpsichord (1632/1745) preserved at the Musee d'art et d'histoire in Neuchatel.

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, although considered an isolated phenomenon, transformed Amsterdam into the centre of interest for keyboard music. Today, Sweelinck is considered not only one of the most famous organists, but also one of the leading composers of his time and the last great master of Dutch and Flemish polyphony. His work is not conceivable without Venetian and, most importantly, English models. Even though he was not widely travelled, Sweelinck remained amazingly well informed throughout his life.

Despite his fame and importance, not a single work for keyboard instruments survives in an autograph source, not even in a copy authorised by the composer. His keyboard works have survived in some thirty scattered and not always reliable manuscripts. This body of work is far from complete, and the copies mostly date from after the composer's death. It is thanks to Sweelinck's pedagogical activity and his numerous students, that the compositions have survived at all.

Among Sweelinck's pieces for keyboard instruments, the variations cycles form a significant group. They include variations on chorale melodies, melodies from the Genevan Psalter, Lutheran songs, as well as on secular models. The latter, however, are undoubtedly the most delightful pieces Sweelinck ever composed, for they reveal the composer's lighter, sometimes humorous side. It seems that Sweelinck composed most of the keyboard works in the last two decades of his life. This is evidenced by a mature style, compositional perfection, and unity.

Reviews

March 2023

Throughout, the playing is poised, gracious and rhetorically phrased. The historic harpsichord (preserved in the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Neuchâtel) is by Sweelinck ’s Flemish contemporary Johannes Ruckers – its sound burnished, resonant, voluminous

Sep/Oct 2023

[Falcone] He performs instinctively, and the sound quality is excellent, even in the more tortuous of the passagework. Any early Baroque fancier would be well advised to check out this fine disc. This is a revelation on the early keyboard, showing its versatility.

The Art of Variation - Sweelinck: Secular Cycles

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