Early English Instrumental Music

Started by Mandryka, October 27, 2015, 01:42:21 AM

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milk

Quote from: Mr. Minnow on May 17, 2018, 06:34:43 AM
Anyone heard this?



I assume it's a new recording and not a reissue of this:


How does this old cembalo sound? Juicy?

Mandryka

#141
Quote from: milk on May 25, 2018, 05:50:09 PM
How does this old cembalo sound? Juicy?

The 2017 CD is well recorded, two instruments, a virginal and a harpsichord, both beautiful and colourful. .  I very much like the dreamy and lyrical quality of the pavans on virginal, siren song. Anyway I think this is an essential thing to hear.  Listen for yourself

https://www.youtube.com/v/6yI2cdo6MFU

Quote from: Mr. Minnow on May 25, 2018, 04:36:18 PM
Thanks - just ordered it. Hopefully it's as good as his previous Byrd CD.

Yes, I think it is.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

Quote from: Mandryka on May 26, 2018, 09:49:39 AM
The 2017 CD is well recorded, two instruments, a virginal and a harpsichord, both beautiful and colourful. .  I very much like the dreamy and lyrical quality of the pavans on virginal, siren song. Anyway I think this is an essential thing to hear.  Listen for yourself

https://www.youtube.com/v/6yI2cdo6MFU

Yes, I think it is.

Having said that, I think that Egarr's recording is probably the most interesting and valuable of the recent Byrd releases.

I just listened to Egarr playing the C major fantasy, and what he does is really astonishing, original and poetic.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#143



Ewa Rzetecka-Niewiadomska plays the Purcell suites in a very serious, reflective, refined way, full of affects, the booklet mentions the French character of these works, and I suspect that that's where she's coming from. Nice French harpsichord, a copy (rather than "after") of Taskin 1769. Interesting to contrast her approach with Egarr's, who's kind of the polar opposite. I find myself enjoying the way she plays very much.

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#144


Very recommendable Peter Philips recording here from Colin Booth, not least for the harpsichord -- Italian, anonymous, organ like in its sustain, independent 4' stop on a separate keyboard, meantone tuned. Booth is well able to drive the instrument and to interpret the music imaginatively and tastefully.

This is one of those occasions where the transfer on spotify doesn't do justice to the recording on CD at all, unfortunately. And in a thing like this, where the instrument matters a lot to the artistry, it's rather unfortunate. On CD the sound is very impressive and has an immediate impact, too close really and probably not what the instrument really sounds like from the audience perspective, but nevertheless very seductive and sensual to hear.

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premont

γνῶθι σεαυτόν

Mandryka

#146
This is also well worth hearing I think



I didn't know he was a harpsichord maker! He clearly chooses instruments carefully and makes sure they're well recorded. It looks like the label, Soundboard, is his.

If you go to his website you'll see he's got a 3-for-2 sale of his own CDs, Immhoing to order the Byrd and the Frescobaldi, and possibly the Purcell or Buxtehude. The Louis Couperin is also well worth hearing.

http://www.colinbooth.co.uk/recordings.html
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#147


Anneke Uittenbosch was a student of Gustav Leonhardt and on this Peter Philips recording she manifests a similar sense of seriousness and expressive control. She has a knack for doing what people used to say Klemperer did, she gives the music a coherent palpable architecture, so that transitions seem natural, dénouements seem inevitable, endings sound final. The readings are very imaginative, in that we find a Philips much more meditative than elsewhere. Her performances are profound, in that they dig into the music inner voices, so that the textures are contrapuntally complex, she makes the music work more through this counterpoint rather than through lyricism. The final pieces, the Passamezzo Pavan and Galliard and the F major fantasie are real high points of Philips on record, if not English renaissance keyboard on record. The Galiard is especially impressive.

Maybe we have something really revealing in her interpretations because it makes Philips sound very close in style  to Sweelinck. I mean I know that Sweelinck liked and used some of Philips tunes, but with Uittenbosch you can hear that the influence goes further - and has much to do with counterpoint.   

Uittenbosch is my sort of musician.

But I have a slight personal reservation. She uses two instruments, and one of them is a modern copy of a Flemish harpsichord "à grand ravalement" and I'm not so keen on its very rich sound. Having said that, it is colourful and saves some of the music from slipping into over-austerity.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#148
Quote from: Que on March 19, 2018, 10:48:29 PM
Any recommendations for the recordings of the harpsichord music by Henry Purcell:)

Q

Well strangely there's a new release which I think you should get, since you obviously won't touch Egarr with a barge poll. This



I've lived with it for about three weeks now and each time I go back to it I'm more and more impressed. And this is in music which normally I find rapidly tires me.

The aesthetic principle underlying the performance is well explained in this excerpt from the booklet essay by Witold Paprocki

QuoteThe type of rhythmical melody that Purcell employs in his suites lays the foundation for introducing French notes inégales (non-equal notes), whose punctuated figures give the dances charm and refined expression. In some sections, mainly in the almand and saraband, Purcell himself shapes the rhythm in the spirit of notes inégales, confirming it in the musical notation. He is also keen to introduce the effect of a sort of instability, of undermining the pulse with the sequential exchange of sounds and note values between the two parts (eg. the Almand in Suite No. 6).

The binary structure of almost all the movements of the suites (excluding several Preludes) gives performers ample opportunity to enrich the ornamentation in the repetitions or to change the timbre by employing a different register of the instrument. Present-day harpsichord- ists eagerly make use of this opportunity, if only because the short duration of the pieces makes it rather unlikely that they will ignore the repeats.

The expressive bass, which is the foundation on which Purcell develops his refined harmonies, as well as the firm melodic writing in the themes, evokes associations with the Italian style. In fact, it may be said that the themes in the Third and Fifth Suites anticipate, in this particular aspect, the onset of the style of Vivaldi or Bach.

Taken as a whole, Purcell's harpsichord suites appear to be typical Baroque examples of the harmonious juxtaposition of contradictions, of using multi-coloured timbres and striking the strings with subtly diversified affections. Suite No. 7 in D minor, for instance, opens with a melancholy Almand in lute style which introduces listeners to an aura of introverted reverie. It is followed by an energetic Corant, leading to the Hornpipe, with its carnivalesque impetuosity, an invitation to this stamping dance.

The entire collection is brought to an end with the simple, elegant Minuet of Suite No. 8. This 16-bar miniature may be described as the com- poser's closing gesture, an expression of gratitude to both the performer and listener which under- lines the fact that charm and simplicity may go hand in hand even in the Baroque period, when to lure and captivate listeners was the order of the day.

You see that it completely confounds my assertion made elsewhere that there's no irony in Purcell, and the idea is really present in the performances. Furthermore, I'd say that what Ewa Rzetecka-Niewiadomska does with expression make these suites as ravishing as anything by Chambonnières.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#150
https://youtube.com/v/KRbKMqZyfq0

This is Colin Tilney's Byrd for Reflexe. It has an amazing quadran Pavan and galliard, infinitely more interesting to hear than his effort on The Contrapuntal Byrd.

Does anyone have this on CD? If so, I'd love an upload, the CD is very expensive to buy.      Got it!
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

milk


I'd like to put in a plug for this ol' one. I love the variety of instruments here: organ, harpsichord, virginal, clavichord..."The Bells" is mesmerizing.

milk

more piano attempts at early music. I'm giving this a go. I know I should probably get a good HIP performance first.

Que

Quote from: milk on July 11, 2018, 02:46:01 PM

I'd like to put in a plug for this ol' one. I love the variety of instruments here: organ, harpsichord, virginal, clavichord..."The Bells" is mesmerizing.

A wonderful set!  :)

Quote from: milk on July 22, 2018, 05:50:00 PM
I know I should probably get a good HIP performance first.

I like Hogwood:

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Q

Mandryka

#154
Quote from: milk on July 22, 2018, 05:50:00 PM
more piano attempts at early music. I'm giving this a go. I know I should probably get a good HIP performance first.

Have you heard this?



Richard Egarr recorded some Gibbons for the same label as his Louis Couperin. I have a rather good transfer of the Hogwood, better than the commercial transfer though with a bit of LP noise - I can always let you have it if you want. I like Daniel-Ben Pienaar's performances very much. Gibbons's instrumental music is I think, hard to get off the page.


Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

milk

Quote from: Que on July 22, 2018, 09:54:06 PM
A wonderful set!  :)

I like Hogwood:

[asin]B000EQHV9S[/asin]
Q
I'm really enjoying the Hogwood.

Mandryka

Quote from: Mandryka on May 26, 2018, 09:49:39 AM
The 2017 CD is well recorded, two instruments, a virginal and a harpsichord, both beautiful and colourful. .  I very much like the dreamy and lyrical quality of the pavans on virginal, siren song. Anyway I think this is an essential thing to hear.  Listen for yourself

https://www.youtube.com/v/6yI2cdo6MFU

Yes, I think it is.

The dreamy and lyrical quality  has not worn well with me, I don't think it's a good way to play Byrd. A bit of a disappointment, this CD.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka



Phantasm play Matthew Locke, a brand new release. For those who know Phantasm, and their tendency for incisive articulation rather than fluidity and lyricism, will get what they're expecting from this recording. It's fascating to compare what the do with Locke with Fretwork and Savall.

The question which I'm trying to think about, so far with no clear success, is how well this style brings out the best in relatively late, Italianate, almost Frescabaldian music like Locke's.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Que

Quote from: Mandryka on October 30, 2018, 08:57:45 AM


Phantasm play Matthew Locke, a brand new release. For those who know Phantasm, and their tendency for incisive articulation rather than fluidity and lyricism, will get what they're expecting from this recording. It's fascating to compare what the do with Locke with Fretwork and Savall.

The question which I'm trying to think about, so far with no clear success, is how well this style brings out the best in relatively late, Italianate, almost Frescabaldian music like Locke's.

I'm a Fretwork fan....  :)

Mandryka

Quote from: Que on October 30, 2018, 10:32:51 AM
I'm a Fretwork fan....  :)

I've been listening to their second Purcell recording -- it's really very good. On the whole I think Fretwork are outstanding in this later Italianate music.
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