Viol Consort

After the success of 'The Nascita del Bologna & Violoncello', Bruno Cocset and Les Basses Réunies give us a new version of Purcell s 'Fantazias' [British Library manuscript], with violin consort and a harpsichord consort. All the instruments played on this recording borrow from both families, the viols and the violins, taking the best from each: richness of timbre and development of the harmonics, so that each voice plays an equal part in the narrative while retaining its own identity. Henry Purcell s fifteen Fantazias for the viols, which exist in an autograph manuscript source in the British Library, were not published until 1927.

Viol consort Fretwork and mezzo soprano Helen Charlston explore the more reflective and sombre Christmas celebrations of Elizabethan England, in a collection of works by William Byrd, Anthony Holborne, Orlando Gibbons and Martin Peerson.

When he published his two Apothéoses in memory of two great masters of music in 1724-25, François Couperin was asserting his desire to promote a meeting of the French and Italian styles – from a very Gallic point of view, naturally. The idea was to convince the French Muses that henceforth one could say sonade and cantade in their language – a strategy already pursued in the much earlier La Sultane and La Superbe. But, far from blindly imitating his idols, Couperin takes inspiration from their styles and adapts them to his own brio. The result is a delight for all to share with the musicians of Gli Incogniti and Amandine Beyer, whose first harmonia mundi recording this is.

Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XX - Folias & Canarios (1994) {Astrée E 8516}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 247 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 132 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 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.

Various - Pärt, Palestrina, Browne - Stabat Mater
Angel Records | 17 février 1998 | Classical | APE+CUE | 3% Recovery | 223 MB | Covers+Booklet | 61'26"

This expertly performed "Stabat Mater" compilation includes two important 16th-century works: the Eton Choirbook setting by John Browne, a sumptuous-if-not-solemn fantasia for six-part choir; and Palestrina's serene double-choir setting, performed one-voice-per-part with improvised embellishments–as Renaissance singers commonly did. Pärt's "Stabat Mater" for vocal trio and string trio (performed stunningly on ECM by the Hilliard Ensemble and, among others, Gidon Kremer) is performed here by three voices and viol sextet. The string playing on the ECM disc was, within the confines of Pärt's somewhat abstract style, very emotional. The viols can't replicate the violin family's intense singing tone and dynamic range; consequently, the expression of grief in the music is yet more abstracted. Technically, Andrew Parrott's singers are at least equal to the Hilliard Ensemble, possibly better. Not necessarily an ideal performance, but worth investigating.

Matthew Westphal