Arauxo

It may be pure coincidence, but in 1626, it was two enlightened intellectuals from Seville artist Diego Velazquez and composer Francisco Correa de Arauxo, who stood out for their ability to portray a microcosm of human emotions in their work. The surviving body of Correas work, the Facultad organica, was published in 1626. For its time it remains a remarkably forward-looking collection. It is especially notable for the dissonant harmonies which Correa, as a cleric as well as a composer, aimed to evoke for his listeners the hardships facing them on their path towards a longed-for paradise.

Under the expert fingers of Jean-Charles Ablitzer, the Iberian organ of Grandvillars, confirms its extraordinary expressive, spatial and sonorous qualities. The thought of the interpreter resuscitates the whole imagination of the organist composers in Spain: the colors shine; fluid and precise, the game emphasizes this aesthetic contrasts very sharp, biting, conducive to the event of the orchestral organ, able to move as to seize by the force of its spatialized spectrum.

Autumn 2017 marks the celebration of our 30th anniversary. It is to better serve our great Canadian musicians that the recording company Analekta was founded in 1987. Through the hundreds of albums and thousands of works recorded since its inception, Analekta has always strived to achieve perfection…

Hespèrion XXI & Jordi Savall - Ostinato (2002) {Alia Vox AV 9820}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 387 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 175 Mb
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© 2002 Alia Vox | AV 9820
Classical / Early Music / Baroque / Renaissance

Ostinato is an anthology which brings together the most representative works of the art of improvisation and of a musical form based on a unique concept of the basso, which is repeated sequentially throughout the compositions.

The Aeolus issue of Bob van Asperen's Krieg und Frieden (War and Peace) is a rather unusual survey in several ways. The central theme of this is tied to the two major conflicts in continental Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the 80 Years War and the 30 Years War, both of which were ultimately resolved by the Westphalian Peace Accord of 1648. Generally when we think of the so-called battle pieces of olden times it brings up memories of music that is rather arcane and none too challenging – thundering, repeated major triads with a rolling tremolo in the bass.

The Aeolus issue of Bob van Asperen's Krieg und Frieden (War and Peace) is a rather unusual survey in several ways. The central theme of this is tied to the two major conflicts in continental Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the 80 Years War and the 30 Years War, both of which were ultimately resolved by the Westphalian Peace Accord of 1648. Generally when we think of the so-called battle pieces of olden times it brings up memories of music that is rather arcane and none too challenging – thundering, repeated major triads with a rolling tremolo in the bass.

Spanish and Portuguese organs are celebrated for their excellent trumpets (en chamade), but their splendid flutes, prestants, cornets, and reeds are less widely known. From the second half of the 17th century, organists in Spain and Portugal delighted in recreating the sounds of the battlefield on their instruments. The batalha has a simple harmonic structure; its interest lies principally in the stirring rhythm.

Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XX - Folias & Canarios (1994) {Astrée E 8516}
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© 1994 Auvidis / Astrée | E 8516
Classical / Renaissance / Baroque

Savall and Hesperion XXI often return to the same material, almost obsessively; yet this repertory - the interface of early Iberian art music and the traditional - sustains endless re-visiting and re-interpretation; there can never be one definitive interpretation of this endlessly rewarding music, as Renaissance and Baroque composers knew - producing as they did endless variations on traditional themes which had woven their way from the popular sphere to the realm of 'art' music. Some of these bass melodies are presented here - the 'Follia' and 'Canaries' -and it is wonderful that Savall has the artistic freedom to perform versions of these again and again on his own label, Alia Vox.

The earliest full organs in Europe were built before the development of a specific repertoire for the instrument. Taken from historic recordings made between 1963 and 1973, this set is now being reissued for third time - proof that the interpretations of Francis Chapelet, Michel Chapuis, René Saorgin and Helmut Winter are still as fresh as ever. Here they breathe new life into instruments of major historical interest from all over Europe, dating from the late 15th century to the 18th. A thrilling musical voyage across periods and repertoires…
Francis Chapelet plays the organs of Palma de Mallorca (Sant Agusti: organ of the monastery by Caimari-Bosch, late 17th century; Sant Geroni: organ by Matheu Bosch, 1746), Trujillo (organ of St Martin’s church, early 18th century) and Covarrubias (organ of the collegiate church by Diego de Orio Tejada, 17th-18th centuries). René Saorgin plays the organs of Malaucène (organ by Charles Boisselin, 1712), Brescia (San Giuseppe: organ by Graziadio Antegnati, 1581) and Bastia (Sainte-Marie: organ by Serassi, 1844). Michel Chapuis plays the organs of Marmoutier (André Silbermann, 1710) and Saint-Maximin (Jean-Esprit Isnard, 1772). Helmut Winter plays the organs of Trebel (Johann Georg Stein senior, 1777) and Altenbruch (Coci-Klapmeyer, 1498-1730).