To compose a few lines upon the fifth anniversary of the late Wolfgang Gluxam's decease is a task at once light and solemn. Light, for though the inevitable gloom of his too-early passing doth weigh heavy, it is Hope that doth prevail-that sentiment of a positive onwardness, which Music itself may impart, but only when artists of due skill are at work. Wolfgang's talent was singular: through his playing, he could spin tales, rousing in his auditors a tension for "What next?"-a suspense he deftly stoked to fervor. No note was struck without it's precise place in the chaos of the score defined, each tone a pillar in the storm. Some may deem this method contrived, a sign of some cold design-yet I affirm him, in the noblest sense, a genius both calculating and questioning, ever striving for perfection, yet tempered (with a grain of salt) by self-doubt. Though such rigor left certain long-forged schemes-as his endeavor with Bach's Art of Fugue-unrealized, we, in this age of vulgar mass-production, find solace in his scant recordings. These relics, though few, leave us quietly content, brimming with gratitude and joy. For such artistry cannot be reckoned by arithmetic, nor conjured by artificial engines; it demandeth a feeling soul, one that breathes and bleeds. Herein lies the power of Wolfgang's works: they compel us to love. That we may likewise rejoice in the album Brook Street is thanks owed to his descendants, who, in their benevolence, hath permitted it's release-a boon to all who cherish his memory.

Since it's foundation in 2005, the Vorarlberg baroque orchestra Concerto Stella Matutina has firmly established itself as one of Austria's leading original sound ensembles. The group is a regular guest at the Kulturbuhne Ambach, where this live recording was made in 2024. In addition to Beethoven's 2nd Symphony, three concert arias by Mozart for bass voice were performed, which, in contrast to the concert arias for soprano, are unfortunately heard far too rarely in concert. The aria Per questa bella mano KV 612 also surprises with a solo double bass.

The Vienna live recording from 1948 not only captures a performance of superlatives, but also a moment of historical and emotional significance. The war-torn city became the setting for an artistic statement of hope and renewal. Walter's conducting and the excellent performers make this performance a definitive interpretation of Mahler's vision.

In the 18th century, the term "clavier" was used to refer to almost all keyboard instruments. For this Bach recital, the Austrian harpsichordist Johannes Maria Bogner has taken precisely this into account and uses the harpsichord and the clavichord for his interpretations, whereby he performs the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue BWV 903 here on both the harpsichord and the clavichord for direct comparison.

Even if he is less well-known today, Alexander Agricola (around 1455-1506) must be counted among the most important Franco-Flemish composers of his generation, together with Desprez and Isaac. His powerful, expansive style with it's wide-ranging melodic arches is reminiscent of Ockeghem, which is individualized by rhythmic elements, among other things. Thanks to the idiomatic and differentiated interpretation by the Beauty Farm vocal ensemble, the two masses presented here underline the composer's outstanding importance in the Parnassus of Renaissance polyphony.

The heyday of the lyra viol began before 1600 in England and lasted nearly a century. 'Lyra way' is characterised by variant tunings and notation in lute-style tablature. Frequently used tunings were named, lyra way (d'-a-f-c-F-C) itself being the first. It dominated up to around 1620, along with a group of tunings named after composer and viol virtuoso Alfonso Ferrabosco II-e. g. Alfonso way (d'-a-e-A-E-AA) and Alfonso way in eights (d'-a-d-A-D-AA). These tunings extend the range of the viol down, with wider intervals than normal between the open strings. The lyra viol was at this time the usual solo instrument for professional and gentlemen amateur violists. Many of the gentlemen learnt to play during legal studies at the Inns of Court, where they also took part in masque productions. Although the repertoire survives mainly in manuscript, a handful of collections printed in London between 1600 and 1612 include music for lyra viol. Tracing broad links between the bass viol and the Jacobean stage-albeit with quite different roles in the public theatre and court masque environments-is easy enough. The viol is referenced in the plays for the public theatres-often metaphorically-and features in contemporary accounts of theatre visits. In the public theatres it provided song accompaniment and instrumental items as required, played by the actors themselves or by hired musicians. In open-air theatres the robust sound of the lyra viol carried better than the lute for accompanying songs and it was capable of substituting for a consort of viols in smaller scale productions. However, what was to be played at any given cue or to which tunes the song texts were sung is rarely clear. The surviving lyra viol repertoire is mostly in the common dance forms, context will suggest what is suitable: a stately pavane, vigorous galliard, airy almaine, or light-hearted coranto or toy. Well-known popular tunes were also harnessed to underscore the meaning of a scene. Song accompaniments would have been worked up on the spot and perhaps never written down-the new tunings enabled semi-improvised performance with easy chords. Leading viol players such as Ferrabosco, Robert Taylor, John Coprario and later William Lawes had posts at court and enjoyed theatrical connections-the friendship and collaborations between Ferrabosco and playwright Ben Jonson are well-documented. Others, such as Joseph Sherlye or William Corkine were London-based freelancers, and scarcely appear in official records. Those working at court contributed regularly to masque productions, but these used lavish ensembles, violin or wind bands for dancing, or lutes for song accompaniment. Here the intersection with the lyra viol is the large number of masque dances and songs which were arranged for home consumption by the gentlemen amateurs in whose lyra viol manuscript collections they survive. Composer/teachers such as Taylor served as intermediaries, making or copying arrangements for their pupils. The music on this album is drawn from two prints, Ferrabosco II's Lessons for 1. 2. and 3. Viols, 1609 and Corkine's The Second Book of Ayres, 1612, and four manuscript collections. The 'William Ballet Tablature' is one of the earliest lyra viol manuscripts, copied over two decades 1600-1620 by at least four anonymous contributors. The 'John Browne Bandora and Lyra Viol Book' dates from a little later. A landowner and music collector, Browne served as Clerk of the Parliaments for much of his long life. Country gentleman Sir Peter Leycester of Tabley Hall near Chester had presumably learned to play lyra viol during his time at Gray's Inn, he began work on his large manuscript collection Lessons for the Lyro=Viole in 1640. The 'Manchester Lyra Viol Book', an even more ambitious retrospective collection than Leycester's, was probably compiled in the 1650s. Despite it's late date it includes a good deal of Jacobean music in lyra way and Alfonso way tunings, it is the source of nearly half the pieces in this selection. Apart from grouping by tuning copyists did not trouble themselves much with ordering the pieces, and were often casual with titles and composers' names. This album has been compiled to highlight the theatrical connections, but it also reflects the eclectic nature of the sources-pieces with a clear link to court masques mingle with those which could easily have been heard in public theatres, and others arguably less likely to have been. Assembling a sequence of pieces into a suite was still left to the performers in the Jacobean period: here the final ordering and grouping aims to produce a satisfactory listening experience within each set and as a complete sequence.

Telemann surprises connoisseurs and lovers of his orchestral music again and again through his unusual combination of instruments and melodic ingenuity.There are still impressive pieces in his oeuvre that are not or only too rarely recorded.The Concerto Stella Matutina presents some of Telemann‘s orchestral art, which mix together principles of the concerto, sonata and suite genres.Founded in 2005, the Austrian Concerto Stella Matutina perform familiar and forgotten works from the 17th-18th c., extending to experimental projects in music and dance, often with artist collaboration.

With his compositions Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1420-1497) had a major influence on the music of the fifteenth century. For example it may have been Ockegham, who founded the long tradition of the artistic compositions of the chanson L’homme arme. In addition to his famous mass for four voices, the German-Belgian ensemble Beauty Farm also interprets the Missa quinti toni for three voices. Beauty Farm specializes in the interpretation of works from the early Renaissance. Their recordings have been described as “extraordinarily sensitive.” Beauty Farm is made up of members of top international ensembles such as La Capilla Flamenca, Huelgas Ensemble, Vox Luminis, Collegium Vocale Gent, and Cinquecento. The ensemble recently won first prize at the international competition for early music ensembles at the Landshuter Hofmusiktage.

In the light of his later music, it is by no means difficult to imagine Domenico Scarlatti strolling under the Moorish arcades of the Alcazar or listening at night in the streets of Seville to the intoxicating rhythms of castanets and the half oriental melodies of Andalusian chant. To them Saracen of his Sicilian ancestry and Neapolitan childhood must have responded. (Ralph Kirkpatrick, Domenico Scarlatti)

Early Music Log - Il Giardino Armonico

We know little about Pierre de Manchicourt's biography and recordings of his music are rare. "Beauty Farm" takes up the cudgels for this Franco-Flemish master of the Renaissance, who is probably only known to insiders. The album "Manchicourt - Masses" sheds a representative light on the sacred music of the composer, who worked as Kapellmeister to Philip II in Madrid in the last years of his life. Four masses - including the first recording of the "Missa De Domina" - show that Manchicourt was one of the grand masters of vocal polyphony.

Historic keyboard instruments are not always easy things to like. The trouble starts, especially with plucked instruments, with the choice of plectra, made generally from quills. If they are too soft or too hard, it becomes difficult to articulate properly. The aim is to find a golden mean, but this becomes impossible if the touch is to be equal over the whole keyboard—in this case forty-five keys. But should uniformity be a goal anyway? It’s hard to imagine the instrument makers of old limiting themselves in that way. If you choose animal-based materials for the plectra which pluck the strings and boar bristle for the jack springs, plus felt or leather dampers, the instrument develops an unpredictable life of its own which is compounded by the movement of the different types of wood—from the case and keyboard to the soundboard itself—according to ambient temperature and humidity. In short, historic keyboard instruments demand far more loving care and attention even than young children. But players and listeners alike may discover an endless cosmos of nuances, including the unavoidable mechanical noises too, if they are willing to cope with all these idiosyncrasies. As always, the two original instruments featured here are conceived for the musical demands of the renaissance and early baroque. Their range, with a “short octave” in the bass, corresponds to a standard that remained in force over centuries on both sides of the Alps. Even the layman will notice that both instruments seem to sound stronger in their low and middle registers whereas the intensity of sound, for all its transparency, diminishes in the higher registers. These instruments are explored here by Peter Waldner.

Nicola Matteis came to England about the year 1672, and the earliest account we have of his wonderful powers on the violin is given us by the gossiping Pepys: “November 19, 1674. I heard that stupendous violin, Sig. Nicholao (with other rare musicians), whom I never heard mortal man exceed on that instrument. He had a stroke so sweet, and made it speak like the voice of a man, and, when he pleased, like a consort of several instruments. He did wonders upon a note and was an excellent composer. Here was also that rare lutenist Dr. Walgrave; but nothing approached the violin in Nicholao’s hand. He played such ravishing things as astonished us all."

The music of the Renaissance appears to reflect little of the dangers, horrors and violent conflicts of its time. Music written during the Hundred Years War or the French invasion of Italy gives hardly any impression to today’s ears of the precariousness of existence of which its composers, singers and listeners must have continually been aware. Nor do the two masses by Jacob Obrecht (1457/8 – 1505) on this recording betray anything of the restless spirit of the age, despite them both being based on models referring to suffering and misery. Founded by Markus Muntean and Bernhard Trebuch- out of passion for vocal polyphony and a kind of despair about the break in the interpretation of this music which took place in the 1980s- beauty farm gathers young singers, leaving traditions behind, willing to experiment and exploring new musical territory.

This new release gives us a small impression of what was played for entertainment in the late 17th and early 18th centuries in the houses of London's high society. The variety of the programme ranges from typical British melancholy to ostinato melodies by Nicola Matteis, an Italian violinist who, like Handel, who is also represented here, enriched the musical life on the Thames as a musical guest worker and Englishman of choice, to the exuberance of the 'Ayres'. The famous baroque violinist Amandine Beyer and the recorder player Michael Oman are supported by the ABC - Austrian Baroque Company.