With this "colourful" selection of pieces, we intend to give an impression of the diverse repertoire collected in the Turin Tablature. The motets and liturgical works were most likely intended for performance in church, whereas dances and madrigals were intended more for secular settings: at festivals, celebrations, and for domestic music-making. Toccatas and ricercars could be played in both ecclesiastical and secular settings. [In light of the wide variety of purposes of this repetoire, we utilized a wide variety of instruments.] Thus, in addition to the Marx-Gunzer organ, three other stringed keyboard instruments were used: a clavicytherium in southern German design from the 17th century, a virginal after Michael Praetorius (1619), and a harpsichord of a seventeenthcentury Italian design.
Music has its own language. Its beauty immediately discloses emotions but sometimes also conceals its meanings. The musician is compelled by this dualism to make choices, which are not always painless. To enhance one of them entails attenuating what is immediately perceptible, in order to highlight what, although existing, is not. This peculiarity makes both studying and performing a piece difficult, and must always be taken into account. This often occurs in Johann Sebastian Bach. He is always searching for some kind of absolute truth. However, we are not given to grasp it in its entirety and in its incomparable complexity: only through continuous research and assiduous work we are able to comprehend a small part of it. The art of music resembles an extraordinary journey encompassing infinite dimensions; the most important aspect is treasuring what we experience and discover along the way, not just reaching the destination, because even then we would realize that the journey is far from over. As Bach suggests in his Musical Offering, there is only one road: quaerendo invenietis, seeking you will find; this is what I have tried to accomplish in this new recording project dedicated to the genius from Eisenach. The anthological choice of this CD stems from the need to provide a significant overview of this interpretative philosophy, which allows us to shed new light on the kaleidoscopic world of Bach. My previous recording project “Domenico Scarlatti alio modo” followed this same criterion, albeit on different bases.
The surviving work of a mystery composer from the late French Baroque, in a new recording by a highly accomplished young early-music keyboardist. Nothing is known of Le Bret beyond the volume of keyboard pieces reproduced here, which analysis of both musical style and ancillary details has dated to the 1730s or 1740s. Whoever he was, Le Bret was clearly inspired by François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau, and his style is comparable to that of the harpsichordists who followed in their footsteps between 1720 and 1740, such as Jean-François Dandrieu, François d'Agincourt, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Bernard de Bury and Jacques Duphly in his first two books. Like them, Le Bret alternates dances and character pieces. On the other hand, he makes no concessions to the taste for pastoral and country music, does not seem influenced by opera music, and does not overdo descriptive effects and virtuosity. All in all, Le Bret remains faithful to the subtle and poetic language of the harpsichord; as he says in his preface, he has 'always endeavored in composing them to adorn them with the most graceful songs, knowing from our most illustrious masters that this is the beauty of this instrument.' As Simone El Oufir Pierini observes in his booklet essay for this album, one evident example of Le Bret's knowledge of 'our most illustrious masters' arises in the piece titled L'Embarassante, a stylish homage to Les Cyclopes by Rameau. Born in Rome in 1996, Simone El Oufir Pierini studied piano at the conservatoire of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Developing a particular interest in historically informed piano practice, he attended masterclasses led by Alexei Lubimov and Andreas Staier, before undertaking specialised study of harpsichord and basso continuo with such teachers as Andrea Coen and Giovanni Togni. He has made several wellreceived albums for Brilliant Classics, both solo and with colleagues.
DANZAS - from Taboo to Triumph: Initially frowned upon and forbidden, then socially accepted and the height of fashion. Despite being at times banned by the authorities, their popularity was not reduced. In this "crossover" project by La Ninfea, the genres and dances meet and mix. Historical dances suddenly turn into tangos, while a tango shows itself in baroque dress - a musical bridge spanning centuries and social conventions.
Prussian Blue: Flute Music at the Court of Frederick II "the Great" / Aretz, Heissen
Haenssler Classic
CD
$20.99May 06, 2022
Why, in a booklet accompanying a recording of "Flute Music at the Court of Frederick the Great", is an attempt being made at this point to take a look into the soul of a damaged monarch? There is a guiding "thread of Ariadne" that leads through the labyrinthine trials and tribulations of Frederick's life and suffering – a singular passion that he discovered at a young age and never forgot throughout his life. It is the love of music, especially the love of playing the "flûte traversière".
The reconstruction of the compositional chronology of Georg Friedrich Handel's repertoire for flute is extremely complex. There are various reasons for this, stemming from two essential factors: on the one hand, the typical tendency for much of Handel's music to transmigrate from one instrument to another and the consequent impossibility, at times, of determining precisely which version of a particular piece is the original; on the other hand, the proliferation, at a time when no copyright regulations existed, of diverse printed editions. Many of these, unauthorised, generated different versions, errors or misinterpretations, which were possibly also passed on over time. For this CD recording, which features a substantial part of the complete corpus of the sonatas for recorder and transverse flute, we compared the two earliest printed versions containing sonatas for solo instrument by Handel. Both were published by the London publisher Walsh, although for a long time the first of the two editions was attributed to the Amsterdam publisher Roger, but then, thanks to the studies of Terence Best and David Lasocki, it turned out to be a 'pirate' publication by the same publisher Walsh (who probably had not yet obtained Handel's permission to publish).
First recording of this special collection of very early chamber music. Several pieces are world first recordings. Beautiful acoustics of a church of the time when the music was composed. Very diversified instrumental settings. Use of some nstruments that are nearly unknown today.
A new recording, unique in the catalogue, of the First (and only surviving) book of keyboard works by Charles de Mars (1702-1774). Compared to many other composers of his era, we know a good deal about the life of de Mars (alternatively known as Demars), making it all the more surprising that the present collection represents all the music of his to have come down to us. He was born to a wax merchant in Sezanne, a small town on the border between the French regions of Brie and Champagne. Several of his relatives were musicians, organists in particular, such as his two brothers. Indeed, we can trace more than 12 members of the de Mars/Tourneur dynasty as organists all over France. Again, the curiosity is that none of their compositions have survived, though they would have written music for their posts just as Charles de Mars did. There is a Handelian flavour to the harmony of the four suites in de Mars's volume, which was published in 1735 and therefore could conceivably have been written with awareness of the older composer's Eight Great Suites for harpsichord. Many features of the volume make it a singular body of work in the French harpsichord tradition. de Mars eschews descriptive titles for individual movements, and occasionally prescribes the performer to play with 'notes egales', and therefore specifically not in the inegale style which we associate with French keyboard composers of the day. As a specialist in this field of unfamiliar keyboard repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries, with an impressive catalogue of Brilliant Classics albums already to his credit, Simone Pierini has explored the life and work of de Mars for himself, and produced an authoritative booklet essay to accompany his new recording of the Pieces de Clavecin. The Fanfare reviewer of his 3CD album of keyboard sonatas by Helene de Montgeroult considered it 'a major addition to the catalogue', noting that Pierini 'plays with tremendous energy and conviction.' - The Pieces de clavecin by Charles de Mars (1707-1774) are written in the rich tradition of French Baroque harpsichord music. A composer largely overshadowed by luminaries like Francois Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau, de Mars nonetheless contributed to the genre with his distinctive style, characterized by elegant ornamentation and a refined sense of harmony. - de Mars's harpsichord works are steeped in the galant aesthetic, bridging the ornate Baroque style with the more expressive and accessible traits of the early Classical period. His music often features dance forms like the allemande, courante, and sarabande, which were central to the French clavecinistes. - One of the hallmarks of his Pieces de clavecin is his innovative use of ornaments, or agrements, which add a shimmering quality to the melodies. These works also reflect de Mars's ability to evoke character and mood, making them miniature portraits of the 18th-century French musical ethos. - Played by Simone Pierini on a harpsichord by Giulio Fratini after M. Mietke, 2014. Born in Rome in 1996, Pierini began studying music at the age of eight. Aged eighteen, he graduated in piano at S. Cecilia Conservatory of Music, Rome, with highest honors. He afterwards grew interest in historically informed piano practice, attending masterclasses led by Alexei Lubimov, Andreas Staier, Tobias Koch, Stefano Fiuzzi. Subsequently, his interest about historical keyboards in general grew further, and he began studying harpsichord and basso continuo with such teachers as Andrea Coen and Giovanni Togni. His recordings with music by Cherubini and the complete piano sonatas by Helene de Montgeroult were very positively received by the press. Classic FM nominated him as one of the 30 best musicians under 30 in 2024.
Pál Hermann, born in Budapest in 1902, was not only one of the leading cellists of his generation; he was also an important composer, one of the major figures in Hungarian music in the generation after his teachers Bartók and Kodály. But since only two of his works were published before his early death – in 1944, at the hands of the Nazis – and many more of them were lost, he has not had the esteem that he deserves. The works on this second volume of his surviving compositions – mostly chamber works for strings, several in their first recordings – have the wiry humour, sprung and spiky rhythms and Hungarian melos that mark him out as a worthy successor to Bartók – and hints at how much was lost with his murder.
During the reign of Le Roi Soleil Louis XIV, music played the fundamental role of defining and consolidating the centrality of power, both in the sphere of sacred music with the grand motets and in the sphere of opera with the comedies-ballets, tragedies-lyricas and operas-ballets by Lully, Charpentier, Delalande and Campra: music had to represent the grandeur and divine nature of the sovereign, the power and splendor of the French crown. This is the cultural and musical context of Francois D'Agincour. Born in Rouen in 1684, he studied in his home town until the age of 17 with Notre-Dame organist Jacques Boyvin. He continued his training probably with Lebegue in Paris, where he was employed as organist at Sainte Madeleine-en-la-Cite for five years. Appreciated and very prominent, in 1714 he became one of the four organists of the Chapelle royal at Versailles, replacing Louis Marchand. He then also took up the post at Saint Jean in Rouen in 1726 and spent the last thirty years of his life between Versailles and Rouen. The only printed collection published by him in 1733 contains 4 ordres for harpsichord, inspired by the descriptive nature of the titles and compositional style by those of Francois Couperin. Next to the dance forms of the suite emerge the pieces de caractere, most of which are rondeaux. The descriptive titles refer to single portraits (e.g., L'Empressee, La Pressante Angelique), double portraits, natural scenes, genre scenes, and places. Played on two different harpsichords, copies of a Hemsch and Dulcken instrument, by Marco Borghetto, who won First Prize at the Wanda Landowska Harpsichord Competition 2023.
Jean-Baptiste Gravier, known as l'abbé Gravier, was a French Catholic priest, composer and organist. Born on 21 April 1723 in Lombez, he died on 22 November 1799 in Saintes. He lived and worked throughout his life in the Occitan region. From the few biographical notes available, we know that Gravier perfected his studies in Toulouse with the organist Jean-Charles Desforats (1690-1762) and was employed in various locations from 1741 to 1790 as organist in Auch, Bordeaux and Saintes. The brief interlude he spent in Paris in 1759 must have been important for his artistic career. The Six Sonates pour le Clavecin (1759) by Abbé Jean-Baptiste Gravier are among his most remarkable works and demonstrate his talent for the harpsichord. The sonatas are composed of several movements, typically three or four, alternating between fast and slow tempos. They show an openness to Italian music, with clear melodic lines and rich harmonies. Gravier was able to incorporate elements of virtuosity and personal expression into his compositions, making them both technically demanding and emotionally captivating. This is another enterprising recording by Fernando de Luca, who has done a great deal to revive forgotten names from 18th-century music with complete surveys of their music on Brilliant Classics, among them Dufour, Foucquet, Jollage and Siret. '[De Luca] thinks outside of the box, and he clearly is a man with discerning tastes. These extend to his playing, which is clear-headed and disciplined, but never rigid. "Charm" is such an overused word, but I cannot think of a better one to describe this music and these performances.' (Fanfare on the Jollage album, January 2024). Fernando de Luca plays a French harpsichord after Blanchet (1754).
The place of Domenico Scarlatti in the history of 18th century music is certainly exceptional. This exquisite and imaginative group of works is included in the fourteenth volume of Scarlatti’s manuscript sonatas preserved in the Marciana Library in Venice. Although known as keyboard sonatas, research reveals that they were very likely to have been conceived for performance on the violin – multi-movement works, often showing the presence of figured bass accompaniment, rapid changes of register and numerous passages better suited to a violin than a keyboard instrument all support the theory. This is flashy and virtuosic writing for violin at its finest.
Parant: Premier Livre de Pieces de Clavecin / Eva del Campo
Brilliant Classics
CD
$6.99$13.99Save 50%May 10, 2024
The apogee of the French harpsichord came in the 18th century with the publication of the musical works of François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau, the two leading representatives of the French harpsichord school. These were followed by numerous livres de clavecin written by a new generation of composers such as Claude Balbastre, Pancrace Royer, Jacques Duphly, and Michel Corrette.
It is within this rococo-galant context, which marked the final glory days of the harpsichord, that we encounter the music of Jean-Baptiste Parant, a composer for whom only scant biographical details are known. Parant’s Premier Livre de Pièces de Clavecin, published in 1762, contains 16 pieces written in the light and carefree rococo style, which makes them a true reflection of the music that would have been heard at this time in the salons of aristocrats and patrons such as the Prince de Conti and Monsieur de La Pouplinière or at the literary salons of Madame du Deffand, Julie Lespinasse, and Madame Geoffrin.
The titles of the pieces allude to persons from Parant’s circle, such as La Angôt and De la Bauve, or to places such as Passy (most probably a reference to the Château de Passy, the residence of the aforementioned important and very wealthy musical patron Alexandre de La Pouplinière) and Lyons (‘La Lionoise’). His sources of inspiration are also to be seen in such evocative titles as ‘Les Cascades’, ‘La Majestueuse’ or ‘La Pétulante’. Running throughout his music are the dances most commonly found in French suites, such as the menuet, rondeau, allemande, gavotte, and lourée.
Telemann: Cantatas and Fantasias / Pahn, Laake, Held, Lohff
Haenssler Classic
CD
$20.99Feb 04, 2022
Every Sunday Telemann had to perform a church cantata and several Passion recitals, as well as one Passion oratorio every year. For the festive season he was required to deliver a composition for each and every holy day. In the 15 years he was there, during which he also directed the opera, he composed about 20 operas, as well as other music for large ensembles. In spite of his immense productivity, the quality of his work remained unaffected, and he was still able to create beautiful gems such as the Moral Cantatas and the solos for baroque flute, violin and viol. The cantatas served the musical cultivation of the Hamburg bourgeoisie and reflected a contemporary concern; the improvement of morals and the search for the joys of life as a consequence of modesty, reason, tolerance and a moral rectitude with regard to other people, in the sense of the philosophy of Enlightenment.
Tessarini: Allettamenti da Camera for Violin Solo & Bass
Brilliant Classics
CD
$12.99Jul 12, 2024
Music for 'The Cardinal King': the only complete available recording of an engaging chamber-collection from 18thcentury Rome, written for the head of a renegade English Catholic family in exile. Several previous Brilliant Classics albums have given notice of the under-appreciated gifts of Carlo Tessarini (1690-1766). Collections of his violin and flute sonatas have revealed a consistently inspired and stylish voice, reliably well-turned melodies and shapely instrumental parts rewarding players and listeners alike. The same qualities illuminate this collection of five Allettamenti da Camera, composed in Rome in 1740 and dedicated to His Royal Highness Henry Duke of York. By that stage in his career, the Rimini-born Tessarini had worked for courts and aristocratic patrons in Venice and Urbino. He had lately moved south to Rome, perhaps in hope of currying favour with the Stuarts, who had lived in the city as celebrated exiles for some years. Surely no dedicatee, whatever their musical expertise, could fail to be delighted by music of such accomplishment and sunny elegance. Each of the five Allettamenti is cast in a tripartite quick-slow-quick form of sonata movements, and they are crowned by a virtuosic, two-part Capriccio which allots a starring role to the solo violin in a set of increasingly elaborate variations. All the same, Tessarini departed for Naples shortly after their composition, and continued on his travels across Europe, finding receptive audiences in France, England and the Netherland, where he died early in 1767. This new recording has been made by an ensemble of Italian early-music specialists who have gathered for the purpose under the banner of the Cappella Musicale Enrico Stuart. They are led by the violinist Gabriele Pro, who is joined by Andrea Lattarulo (cello), Michele Carreca (theorbo and guitar) and Simone El Oufir Pierini (harpsichord). Pierini has won glowing opinions for previous Brilliant Classics albums dedicated to the music of Cherubini (96246), de Montgéroult (96247) and Tinazzoli (96865).
Christoph Schaffrath (1709-1763) was a German composer, harpsichordist, and organist active during the transition from the late Baroque to the early Classical period. Born in Hohnstein near Dresden, he studied at the University of Leipzig and later competed for the position of organist at the Sophienkirche in Dresden, though he lost to Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Despite this setback, Schaffrath went on to build a solid career in Berlin, serving first as harpsichordist to Crown Prince Frederick (later Frederick the Great) and later as court musician to Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia. His role in these circles placed him in the heart of the north German Empfindsamer Stil, a style characterized by expressive melodies, sudden contrasts, and sensitivity to affect. Among Schaffrath's surviving works, the 12 Soli per il Cembalo hold a special place. This collection, composed for solo harpsichord, shows his ability to merge Baroque contrapuntal traditions with the emerging galant idiom. Each of the twelve pieces demonstrates clarity of texture, graceful melodic invention, and a keen sense of ornamentation appropriate for the keyboard. Unlike the dense polyphony of J.S. Bach, Schaffrath's Soli often feature a singing upper line supported by transparent accompaniment, making them more accessible to performers and audiences of his time. The sonatas show Schaffrath's sensitivity to the harpsichord's timbre and expressive limits, favoring elegance over virtuosic display. Today, the 12 Soli per il Cembalo offer valuable insight into mid-18th-century keyboard practice and exemplify the stylistic currents that paved the way for Haydn, C.P.E. Bach, and Mozart. Played by Marius Bartoccini, a keyboard player who performed as a soloist with Sigiswald Kuijken and Federico Maria Sardelli. On this recording he plays an harpsichord and clavichord. He recorded to great critical acclaim for Brilliant Classics works by Dussek, Myslivecek and Kozeluch.
Songs of love and loss by a trio of early 18th century Spanish composers, showcasing the vocal art of a distinguished early-music soprano. Cristina Bayón Álvarez has sung with early-music luminaries such as Christophe Coin, Diego Fasolis and Carlos Mena. She has also recorded a pair of warmly received albums for Brilliant Classics, reviving the sacred music of Juan Francés de Iribarren (95859) and Romantic-era songs by female composers (‘Boulevard des femmes’, 96729). For her latest album, Cristina Bayón Álvarez turns to 18th-century Spain, presenting for the first time on record a sequence of newly edited secular cantatas. These are all brief pieces, taking amorous and pastoral themes for their subjects, alternating recitative and aria, conveying the pain of a lover separated from the object of their affections, or rejected by them. One piece stands out for its relative modernity of sentiment: La picarilla más bella by José de Torres y Martínez Bravo (ca. 1670-1738), highlighting the contempt for love on the part of a woman who prefers freedom of spirit to the suffering caused by sentimental passion. The least unfamiliar of the three composers featured on the album is Emanuele Rincón d’Astorga (1680-1775), best known for a Stabat mater of plangent expressive quality. The affecting, Italianate vocal lines of this sacred work also colour the three cantatas recorded here: Filis, que abrigas, Respirad, mas sea quedito and Sean, Filis, de mi llanto. Astorga made his name outside Spain, though eventually settled and died in Madrid; Juan de Serquiera (ca. 1655-ca. 1726) was likely also active in the Spanish capital, though of Portuguese origin. Almost nothing survives of his life and work, which makes the survival of Oh, corazón amante all the more precious, especially since it demonstrates Serquiera’s skill at affective word setting. José de Torres y Martínez Bravo is recorded as master of music at the Royal Chapel in Madrid from 1697 until his death in 1707. Not least thanks to this distinction, much more is known of his activity, including a keyboard-instruction manual and a set of Masses dedicated to Philip V of Spain. As recorded here, La picarilla más bella and Por el Tenaro monte share the expressive flair and rhythmic energy of his vernacular villancicos. Taken together, the works here make an exciting addition to the catalogue of Spanish Baroque vocal repertoire, especially in such accomplished and stylish performances.
