Locke: The Flat Consort / Fretwork

$14.99
Label
Signum Classics
Release Date
January 14, 2022
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Matthew Locke
    • PERFORMER
      Fretwork
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      January 14, 2022
    • UPC
      635212069622
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      SIGCD696
    • LABEL
      Signum Classics
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    2. II. Courante

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    3. III. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    4. IV. Saraband

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    5. V. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    6. VI. Jigg

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    7. I. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Joanna Levine, Richard Boothby

    8. II. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Joanna Levine, Richard Boothby

    9. III. Courant

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Joanna Levine, Richard Boothby

    10. IV. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Joanna Levine, Richard Boothby

    11. V. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Joanna Levine, Richard Boothby

    12. VI. Saraband

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Joanna Levine, Richard Boothby

    13. I. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    14. II. Courant

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    15. III. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    16. IV. Saraband

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    17. V. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    18. VI. Jigg

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    19. I. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    20. II. Courante

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    21. III. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    22. IV. Saraband

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    23. I. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Richard Boothby, Asako Morikawa

    24. II. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Richard Boothby, Asako Morikawa

    25. III. Courant

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Richard Boothby, Asako Morikawa

    26. IV. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Richard Boothby, Asako Morikawa

    27. V. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Richard Boothby, Asako Morikawa

    28. VI. Saraband

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Performer: Richard Boothby, Asako Morikawa

    29. I. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    30. II. Galliard

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    31. III. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    32. IV. Saraband

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    33. I. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    34. II. Galliard

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    35. III. Fantazia

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston

    36. IV. Saraband

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: Fretwork

      Performer: David Miller, Silas Wollston


Matthew Locke was born 400 years ago in 1622, and while he is often ranked as one of England’s finest composers, he is still unaccountably neglected: his music may not be as immediately appealing as his immediate successor, Henry Purcell, nor as wide-ranging as William Byrd, yet his forceful musical personality and luxuriant technique place him in the first echelon of English composers, with his works described by Richard Boothby of Fretwork as having a "quixotic, capricious restlessness that is constantly challenging the listener to follow his argument...a thrilling musical ride".

Accompanying Fretwork on continuo for this recording are David Miller (archlute and theorbo) and Silas Wollston (harpsichord). The cover of the album bears an inscription in the walls by the choir stall of Exeter Cathedral, thought to have been carved by the composer during his time as a member of the choir there. In 2021, Fretwork celebrated its 35th anniversary. In the past three and a half decades they have explored the core repertory of great English consort music, from Taverner to Purcell, and made classic recordings against which others are judged. Their recent critically-praised releases with Signum include If and Lamento – both with countertenor Iestyn Davies – and In Nomine 2.

REVIEWS:

Fretwork captures the brooding quality of the minor-mode suites particularly well, and their sinewy playing points up Locke’s vigorous counterpoint and robust rhythms.

-- BBC Music Magazine

The delicious way in which Locke’s fantazias – unlike those of Jenkins or Lawes – present a cornucopia of switches in tempo or affect is matched by Fretwork’s agility in moving from one colour and affect to the next.

-- Gramophone