On July 5, 1672, antiquarian and diarist Anthony à Wood noted in his diary, "Encaenia: excellent musick." The Encaenia was what seventeenth century Oxford called its annual graduation ceremony, which was held in a theater, and the music was Descende caelo cincta sororibus, or The Oxford Ode, written by England's then-reigning monarch among ...
Where did the big, imposing, public quality of Handel's English choral music come from? Listening to the music of John Blow (1649-1708) uncovers part of the answer. Blow, organist at the Chapel Royal and later the impressively titled "Composer of the Chapel Royal," was the preeminent church composer of the English restoration. His anthems, 14 of ...
The chief draw on this reissue album of English Classical-era clarinet concertos is the delightful work of clarinetist Colin Lawson, playing a copy of a period English instrument. Like Extreme Makeover, he makes the most of modest charms. The music here resembles in mood the sunny, light compositions of London's preeminent composer of the ...
As the Interregnum headed by the Cromwells ended around 1660, Matthew Locke discovered that as one-time music master to the household of Charles II during the latter's years of exile in France, the restoration of the King also meant the installation of Locke as royal music master. This came as a huge boost in status for Locke, who was struggling ...
With all of the attention Heinrich von Biber had in terms of new recordings, it is a pity that none of it has rubbed off onto Biber's closest, and utterly worthy, contemporary Georg Muffat. Partly it is a problem of output; compared to Biber's 170-plus surviving compositions, which seems to grow by a piece or two every year as new manuscripts are ...
As fine a series of recordings as has been made in the digital era, Peter Holman's The English Orpheus with his Parley of Instruments is a brilliant, moving, and revelatory series of recordings illuminating the greatness of English music between 1600 and 1800. And if the phrase greatness of English music sounds absurd, which in too many ...
Written in the 1780s by composers whose names are now all but forgotten, the works here are all in the eloquent Italianate style that then dominated Europe, full of the insouciant themes, elegant harmonies, and virtuoso solo parts that make discovery of otherwise forgotten music a pleasure. Elizabeth Wallfisch plays a period violin with the Parley ...
This collection of English trumpet music from Henry Purcell's time, and from the decades after the death of that short-lived composer, will sound familiar to those who have heard the instrumental suites extracted from Purcell's theatrical music. Some of the music is in the shape of the French suite of dances, while other pieces are in the fast ...
The concept behind this disc called While Shepherds Watched is unusual and appealing: Christmas carols popular in English parish churches and chapels between 1740 and 1830. With the exception of two selections by Handel, most of the 15 pieces will be all but unknown to modern listeners. Who now would claim to know "As shepherd's watched their ...
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