A first-ever complete recording for keyboard collections which capture the elegance and cosmopolitan style of Georgian-era English music. Maurice Greene (1696-1755) belongs to the generation that followed Henry Purcell and preceded Handel. Becoming organist of St Paul's Cathedral in 1719, and in 1735 organist and composer to the Chapel Royal, he wrote a good deal of church music which is still in use today: memorably simple but effective anthems such as Thou visitest the earth and Lord, let me know mine end. Much less well known-and most of it previously unrecorded-is Greene's corpus of instrumental music. Published in 1745, his Six Overtures in Seven Parts alternate a slow and solemn French-style overture with fugal allegros and elegant dance movements such as minuets, gavottes, or airs. The original orchestral scores have recently attracted a recording: Fernando de Luca has made his own arrangements for solo harpsichord, following a long-standing practice and retaining the essential exuberance of the overtures while inflecting them with refined dynamic shading. Rarer still are the 15 keyboard "Lessons": Italianate suites which bear witness to a transition from the contrapuntal Baroque style to a more galant idiom, under the influence of Italian exemplars such as Corelli and Geminiani, as well as the seductive charms of French culture which captivated the upper end of Georgian society and culture. William Boyce (1711-1779) studied with Greene and followed in the footsteps of his teacher by attaining the same distinguished posts at St Paul's and the Chapel Royal. Again principally known for his church music, he also wrote a collection of overtures which have retained popularity on the fringes of the catalogue. His Voluntaries for the Organ or Harpsichord (published posthumously in London, c. 1779) represent one of the final great expressions of the genre in their refined counterpoint and graceful harmonies. "Harpsichordist Fernando de Luca does a splendid job," remarked Fanfare magazine in a review of the Brilliant Classics album dedicated to the music of Pierre-Claude Foucquet: one of many comprehensive collections through which de Luca has revived lesser-known composers of the eighteenth century. This volume of Boyce and Greene stands as a notable addition to the library.
When Capriccio started out in 1982, still producing LPs and tapes, it was the first digital Beethoven Symphony cycle with the Dresden Philharmonic and Herbert Kegel that first turned heads. Several other key projects were pivotal to the label quickly establishing a reputation as a source of quality music and performances. Foremost among them, never out of the catalogue and still loved today, are the recordings with Sandor Végh. Then, in the mid-nineties those of Sir Neville Marriner’s, who, after long being synonymous with the Philips label, recorded widely for Capriccio, both with his Academy Of St Martin in the Fields and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Contemporaries of Mozart’s that have emerged on Capriccio include Joseph Martin Kraus, François-Joseph Gossec, and Jan Ladislav Dussek. They are performed by early music and classical period Capriccio-favorites such as Concerto Köln or the CPE Bach Chamber Orchestra. This box set features the label’s most important ensembles, orchestras, and conductors, from the classical period to the 20th century, when, in 2005, Capriccio released the first complete Shostakovich Cycle with the Gürzenich Orchestra and Dmitrji Kitajenko.
Boyce: 8 Symphonies / Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Capriccio
CD
$16.99Jan 06, 2017
Capriccio Encore is a series of re-releases of the most famous recordings from Capriccio’s back catalogue, fully re-mastered and competitively priced. The legendary recordings of artists such as Sandor Végh, Ton Koopman, Sir Neville Marriner and the Vienna Boys’ Choir also contain repertoire highlights that have a particularly special appeal, from the baroque to the present day. This Encore release features William Boyce's 8 Symphonies, performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, lead by Sir Neville Marriner.
