Purcell: Fantazias / Chelys Consort of Viols

$10.99
Label
BIS
Release Date
December 3, 2021
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Purcell, Henry
    • PERFORMER
      Chelys Consort Of Viols
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      December 03, 2021
    • UPC
      7318599925837
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      BIS-2583
    • LABEL
      BIS
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Chamber Music & Recitals
    Works ⌄

    1. In Nomine a 6 in G Minor, Z. 746

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

      Performer: Emily Ashton

    2. Fantasia a 4 No. 4 in G Minor, Z. 735

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    3. Fantasia a 4 No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Z. 736

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    4. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: Second Music: Rondeau

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    5. Fantasia a 4 No. 6 in F Major, Z. 737

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    6. Fantasia a 4 No. 7 in C Minor, Z. 738

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    7. The Fairy Queen, Z. 629, Act V: Chaconne: Dance for a Chinese Man and Woman

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    8. Fantasia a 4 No. 8 in D Minor, Z. 739

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    9. Fantasia a 4 No. 9 in A Minor, Z. 740

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    10. The Prophetess, Z. 627, "The History of Dioclesian", Act III: Two in one upon a Ground

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    11. Fantasia a 4 No. 10 in E Minor, Z. 741

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    12. Fantasia a 4 No. 11 in G Major, Z. 742

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    13. Fantasia a 4 No. 12 in D Minor, Z. 743

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    14. Fantasia a 4 in A Minor, Z. 744

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    15. Fantasia a 5 in F, Z. 745, "Upon 1 Note"

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    16. Fantasia a 3 No. 1 in D Minor, Z. 732

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    17. Fantasia a 3 No. 2 in F Major, Z. 733

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    18. Fantasia a 3 No. 3 in G Minor, Z. 734

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    19. Chacony in G Minor, Z. 730

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

    20. In Nomine a 7 in G Minor, Z. 747, "Dorian"

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Chelys Consort of Viols

      Performer: Emily Ashton, Harry Buckoke


At the age of 20, Henry Purcell entered his 14 Fantasias and two In Nomines into an autograph bearing the title ‘The Works of Hen; Purcell, A.D. 1680’. Despite his youth Purcell was already making his mark as a composer, writing music for the London theatres and holding posts at Westminster Abbey and at court. But unlike his works for the theatre and the church, which were intended for specific occasions, very little is known about the impulse behind fantasias. Composed for between three and seven parts they are a consciously anachronistic distillation of an old style at a time when the reigning taste was for more modern sounds – for dance-based music with lively rhythms and hummable tunes. It isn’t even clear what kind of ensemble they were intended for: given the association with older music, one might assume that Purcell had viols in mind, but the distribution of the parts is not always in keeping with the standard sizes of the viol consort – nor for that matter those of the violin consort.

Were the fantasias in fact ever performed? None of these questions has a satisfactory answer, and in this respect the Purcell Fantasias resemble Bach’s The Art of the Fugue, because of their quality and inventiveness but also owing to the mysteries that surround them. The collection is here performed by Chelys Consort of Viols, following up on three previous and acclaimed releases on BIS featuring the music of Michael East, John Dowland, and Christopher Simpson.

REVIEW:

The Chelys readings, clean and rather circumspect, merit strong consideration for those interested in these youthful and intellectual Purcell works. Nicely recorded by BIS at Girton College Chapel, Cambridge, they don't overdo the mystery: the sound is clean and the polyphony clear. The pungent dissonances scattered through these works, which were a feature of the tradition (not just of Purcell's pieces), emerge with the proper emphasis, but the Consort does not lean into them unnecessarily.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)