Music & Media
15 products
The Dark Lord's Music / Eastwell
Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, is one of the most extraordinary figures of 17th century English life- brother of the poet George Herbert, but in his own right a diplomat, soldier, courtier, philosopher, poet, historian and musician, as well as being the author of one of the earliest and most entertaining autobiographies in English. His lute book, preserved in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, is among the most important sources of English and Continental instrumental music of this period. Almost all the major English lute composers of the era are represented, while the large number of works by Continental composers is probably a consequence of Lord Herbert’s extensive travels throughout Europe. The book also contains extraordinary and otherwise unknown works by Cuthbert Hely and Lord Herbert himself, a last echo of English lute music’s “Golden Age.” It is from this book that the pieces on this release are taken and performed by Martin Eastwell.
Julian Marshall: Out Of The Darkness
Piano Music from Leipzig / Meynell
Situated on the intersection between two major mediaeval trade routes, Leipzig became one of the most important cultural cities in Europe, famous for its music and publishing houses. Many great composers flourished writing for its churches, publishers and musical amateurs, and this piano recital illustrates what a rich diversity of music was born here. Eleanor Meynell won a scholarship to Chetham’s School of Music at the age of 11 where she studied with Heather Slade Lipkin and Ryzsard Bakst. During her time there she was a prize-winner in several national and international competitions and won Bromsgrove Young Musician of the Year at the age of 15. She also was awarded both ARCM and LGSM diplomas while still at school. Eleanor has broadcast as a soloist and chamber musician on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and Radio Belfast, and is currently on the staff at Trinity Laban College of Music and Goldsmiths College where she accompanies and coaches. As well as singing in the Monteverdi Choir, she also plays for auditions and masterclasses for John Eliot Gardiner and is a mentor on the apprenticeship scene.
Martin Emslie: Omega And Alpha - The End And The Beginning
Journey: Twelve Romances For Piano
Un hommage a Erik: Piano Pieces Inspired by Erik Satie / Fowler
Transformations
The Power Of Dreaming
Sounds Of Brazil And Argentina: Songs By Gustavino, Ginastera, Mignone, Guarnieri & Ripper
Lady Maggie's Lilt: Music From The Lute Book Of Lady Margaret Wemyss
LADY MAGGIE’S LILT: MUSIC FROM THE LUTE BOOK OF LADY MARGARET WEMYSS, 1629-1648 • Martin Eastwell (lt) • MMC 104 (62:53)
Uniquely in my experience, this disc contains 45 short pieces, mostly anonymous, a body of work that comprises about half of what has been found in the book of the Scottish Lady Margaret Wemyss, who started a book of music and poems when she was 12. Many of the tunes played here are simple arrangements of Scottish tunes: Martin Eastwell suggests that the book is particularly interesting for the insights it provides into Scottish folk music. Eastwell has added seven preludes of his own devising to groups of pieces he feels hold together. He has also added embellishments to I Never Knew I Loved Thee , and borrowed the last piece, The Flowers of the Forest from another contemporary Scottish book. Flowers was written as an elegy for Lady Margaret. Half of the collection, according to Eastwell, is of French origin: He includes pieces by Gaultier, Lespine, Mesangeau, Dufault, and de Chancy. Many of the pieces, such as The Corbie and the Pigot, are very simple though pretty. There are laments, and sprightly songs like Fair and Louky. The competition here is with a disc by Jakob Lindberg, though that disc only duplicates some of the music found here. Lindberg’s Lady Binnis Lilt is much more folksy and dance-like than is Eastwell’s rendition. There’s something a little wild about Lindberg’s playing. In these small pieces, Eastwell is restrained and lyrical. The disc may not contain towering masterpieces, but it surely is pleasant to listen to.
FANFARE: Michael Ullman
Gregory: The Silver Dial
I Feel The Silence / Sophie Harris
Hommage aux Demoiselles Eissler / Mason, Broome
Saint-Saens Fantasie Op. 124 for violin and harp stands alone in the repertoire. In planning recital programmes it is good to be able to include music from a range of styles, so Marianne and Clara Eissler, the dedicatees of the Fantasie, offered the possibility of finding a repertoire from an earlier age. Musical historians tell us very little about them, but in their day, they were celebrated performers, known and loved by people all over Europe. Uncovering their lives and the music they played has been largely a matter of searching newspaper reports. They lived at a time of great wealth and great houses, of railway travel, of life lived in public, of news widely disseminated and repeated. The music they played is essentially Victorian, but the titles and associations hide music that has its own charm. This was an age when a large and diverse audience listened to and enjoyed classical music, and when the aristocratic element of that audience was well educated in music and supported and enabled its performance. The story of the Eisslers is also a story of women fighting to build careers as independent women at a time when most careers were cut short by marriage.
English Recorder Works / Jill Kemp
ENGLISH RECORDER WORKS • Jill Kemp (rcr); Aleksandr Szram (pn); Brodowski Qrt • MUSIC MEDIA 103 (70:58)
ARNOLD Sonatina. Solitaire. Fantasy for Recorder and String Quartet. BERKELEY Sonatina. JACOB Suite for Recorder and String Quartet. BOWEN Recorder Sonata. RUBBRA Meditazioni sopra “Coeurs désolés”
Among modern composers, the English probably have been most attentive to the recorder, an instrument still, in many minds, associated with early music and with the most tiresome aspects of musical education. In large part, the English connection probably can be attributed to Arnold (father) and Carl (son) Dolmetsch, who did so much to bring the instrument out of the past, and to make it accessible (in multiple senses of the word) to English performers and composers. Indeed, several of the works on this CD, including Lennox Berkeley’s Sonatina, York Bowen’s Sonata, Edmund Rubbra’s Meditazioni sopra “Coeurs désolés” (based on a theme by Josquin des Prez), and Gordon Jacob’s Suite, were composed for Carl Dolmetsch between 1939 and 1958. Malcolm Arnold’s Sonatina (1953) was composed for Philip Rogers, another English performer. Throughout the course of the latter half of the century, the recorder once again became a truly international instrument. For example, it was Danish performer Michala Petri (still active, praise be to God!) who inspired Arnold’s Fantasy in 1990. Arnold’s Solitaire (originally composed for a tobacco advertisement!), after several iterations, finally became a work for recorder and piano at the instigation of recorder player John Turner.
Carl Dolmetsch’s representation on CD is disappointingly sparse. (A series from Allegro Music titled The Arnold Dolmetsch Years contains concert recordings in which several Dolmetsch family members are involved, and important guests such as Rafael Puyana, but these are out of print.) Fortunately, we have performers such as Petri and Jill Kemp to run with the torch. Kemp studied with Petri and Piers Adams, and her work, if not her name, will be familiar to many, as she performs on the soundtrack of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , playing Alexandre Desplat’s score. (Adams plays on the soundtrack as well.)
With its alternation between works in which the soloist is joined either by piano or by string quartet, this CD is well thought out. Kemp is an expressive player, and always in control of her surprisingly difficult instrument. (I wrote “surprisingly” because, in my experience, the recorder is easy to play but nearly impossible to master!) In terms of technique, there are no problems. She is very capable of making her instrument sing. In terms of musicianship, though, I find Kemp to be less imaginative and varied than Petri, who can convince a receptive listener that the recorder is as capable of as many colors and moods as the violin. Granted, the repertoire is weighted in the English pastoral direction, but Arnold and Jacob are often witty, and there’s a seriousness to Kemp’s playing that doesn’t always do the music justice. (The “Burlesca alla Rumba” from Jacob’s Suite, for example, needs to smile more; this is funny music.) Kemp is at her best, then, when the music is peaceful or elegiac. The dignity and drama of Rubbra’s Meditazioni also come across strongly, making this work another highpoint of the CD. Alexander Szram is an attentive pianist, and the young Brodowski Quartet plays with sensitivity. (For example, I like the way in which they do a lot with very little in the first movement of Arnold’s Fantasy. Throughout this work, their influence brings out the best in Kemp, who seems freer here than she does elsewhere in this recital.)
This disc is quite enjoyable, and Kemp is a talent to keep your eyes on, although Petri’s recordings remain top choice.
FANFARE: Raymond Tuttle
