Complete Keyboard Works
Albertus
Bryne
Deux-Elles DXL1124
|
Classical.net
June 2008
Albertus Bryne (1621-1668) was a contemporary of such
British composers as Christopher Simpson and Matthew Locke, being born six
years after the former and five years before the latter. Living through
the English Civil Wars and Cromwell's Protectorate, he died eight years
after the restoration of Charles II; that is, just before Purcell was
beginning to compose. Apparently an outstanding harpsichord player, Bryne
was also an organist and chorister taught by John Tomkins (whom he
succeeded) at St Paul's in London, although he subsequently had to leave
his post there – twice (during the Civil War, and the Great Fire of
London in 1666)! Rejected by the Puritans, he was refused the position of
organist of the Chapel Royal, although he did find work at Westminster
Abbey after 1660, where he was succeeded by John Blow.
His harpsichord suites are some of the first in Britain to
have four movements – and deserve to be better known than they are.
Indeed that goes for his work in general and it's tempting to assume that
his relative obscurity today must in part be the result of the
vicissitudes of his career in times of great change and national event.
Bryne occupies a "betwixt and between" position and status –
after the golden age of English virginal music and before the English
Baroque proper of Purcell, Clarke and eventually Handel. It's good to note
that a new edition of Bryne's works from Norsk
Musikforlag A/S prepared by the harpsichordist on this CD, Terence
Charlston, and Heather Windram, is mentioned in the CD's liner notes, but
appeared still to be "forthcoming" at the time of this review's
publication. Bryne was highly regarded during his life… Playford's Musicall
Banquet of 1651 has him in its lists of "excellent and able
Masters"; Batchiler's The Virgin's Pattern of 1661 calls
Bryne "that famously velvet fingered Organist"; and Locke rated
him as highly as Bull (whose Preludium is also included in this
recital) and Gibbons. It is probable, then, that most of Bryne's extant
keyboard music was intended for domestic, not church, performance.
The suites presented here mostly follow the traditional
Air, Allmain or Courrant – Saraband – Jig sequence, or some variation
thereof. In fact, Bryne was one of the first English composers to organize
his suites by key. For this and other reasons, of style, they were
influential on the likes of Blow and Purcell. Some of their figurations
and broken chords clearly derive from the lute repertoire of the time.
Charlston is particularly successful at bringing that correspondence to
the fore. He also points up the music's gentle rhythmicality and its
spring. With admirable clarity of melodic line Charlston exposes the
unselfconscious development of each movement as part of each suite's
whole: listen to the the Ground of the A Minor Suite (tr.22), for example,
to hear how Bryne's maturity and fully-integrated sense of melody matching
both tempo and texture succeed so well. The intricacy and graceful arch
even of a short movement like the Courrant from the A Minor suite (tr.19)
also illustrates this well. Almost exclusive to English music of the time,
in fact, is the Ground. These movements are splendid opportunities for
Charlston to improvise, as would have been normal in Bryne's day. In the
notes which come with this CD, Charlston suggests that there are many
significant issues of restoration associated with the suites of Bryne. For
example, the two types of variation – "division" and
"interpolation": since we have little or no indication of when
each was intended, it fell to Charlston to include examples of both
methods. This he does, and his judgement seems to have worked, given the
way we respond to them.
Terence Charlston has an evident feel for and empathy with
this music. His touch is light in the sense that his intention (he
succeeds admirably) is to evoke the music's sometimes concealed
intricacies and intensities. Given that most of Bryne's music would have
been meant for and played on whichever keyboard instrument was to hand,
there's a pleasing balance on this CD: those played on the organ sound
more majestic: such performances of Bryne remind one of Byrd. Those on the
harpsichords and spinet (just the D major Suite, tr.s31-33, which is also
played on the harpsichord, tr.s14-16) clean and fresh. So again
Charlston's judgement is a good one.
No fewer than four instruments are used by Charlston on
this recording: a Renatus Harris organ of 1702-04; a single manual
harpsichord after Ioannes Couchet of 1645 by David Evans (2005); a spinet
after Charles Haward of c.1680 by Miles Hellon (1979); and a Ruckers
double manual harpsichord of 1624 by Andrew Garlick (1998).
The CD concludes with three short single organ voluntaries
by Christopher Gibbons (1615-1676, Orlando's son), whom Bryne succeeded at
Westminster Abbey.
It almost goes without saying that Albertus Bryne is
under-recorded: there only appears to be one other CD in the current
catalog (Signum U.K. 93), on which he has a single track. So if for no
other reasons than ones of musicological interest, this would be a CD to
be snapped up by lovers both of the somewhat slim pickings of mid
seventeenth century English instrumental music. But, further, this is a CD
full of beautiful, tuneful and excellently-played music by a specialist
who brings style, originality and above all great illumination to one of
that period's most elegant and characterful composers. It will delight.
Thoroughly recommended.
Copyright © 2008 by Mark Sealey. http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/d/dxl01124a.php
Early
Music Review 2007
I
confess that I’d not previously heard of Albertus Bryne (c.1621-1668),
but it seems that he was organist of (old) St. Paul’s for some years,
and later of Westminster Abbey in succession to Christopher Gibbons. His
French-style keyboard suites are not quite in the same league as the best
of Froberger or Louis Couperin, but the pieces are tuneful, effective and
well written, if sometimes a little short-breathed. Charlston (who has
made a special study of Bryne’s music) plays them persuasively and
stylishly on some well-chosen instruments, all described and photographed
in the booklet. There are two copies of 17th-century Flemish harpsichords
and a spinet after the Charles Haward of /c/.1680; most interesting of all
is the Renatus Harris organ of 1702-4 in St. Botolph’s, Aldgate, which
has recently been restored to something like its original condition,
complete with G/B short octave. It may be a little later in style than the
instruments Bryne knew, but it has a good claim to be the earliest
surviving church organ in England. Highly recommended, for the music, the
playing and the instruments.
Richard
Maunder
Music
Web International
June 2007
If you have never heard of an English composer with the name Albertus
Bryne – also spelled as 'Brian' or 'Bryan' – there is no need to be
ashamed. Few people will have heard of him, except for those who have a
better than average knowledge of the history of English music. He has an
article in New Grove, but to my knowledge until now none of his works has
been recorded. So one can only be grateful to Terence Charlston for not
only recording his complete keyboard works, but also for editing and
publishing them. This will, I am sure, lead to his music being played –
and recorded – in the future. If one looks into the catalogue of
recordings of English keyboard music one will find that the music of the
virginalists is very popular, but that Henry Purcell is virtually the only
later composer whose music in this genre is regularly performed and
recorded. Even distinguished colleagues of his, like John Blow, are
largely ignored. As Bryne was an important link between the virginalists
and the composers of the late 17th century one may hope that this
recording and the printing of his music will lead to more attention being
given to English harpsichord music of the late 17th century.
As is so often the case, the fact that Bryne is an almost unknown quantity
today tells us nothing about his reputation among his contemporaries. He
was described as "that famously velvet fingered organist" and
"an excellent musitian". But he had the bad luck to be active
during the political upheaval which led to the Commonwealth. This resulted
in his being dismissed from his post as organist at St Paul's, a position
he had held since 1638 as a successor to his teacher, John Tomkins. He
survived the Commonwealth by teaching the keyboard. After the Restoration
he returned to his old post, which he lost again in the wake of the Great
Fire of 1666. The last two years of his life he worked as organist of
Westminster Abbey. When he died in 1668 he was succeeded there by John
Blow.
It was probably during the Commonwealth period that most of his keyboard
works were written, as they are primarily intended for domestic
performance. They were widely appreciated, not only in his own time, but
also in the 18th century, as some copies of his music prove. Historically
"Bryne's suites occupy a unique position between the 'Golden Age' of
the English Virginalists and the highly individual voices of English
Baroque at the end of the century", Terence Charlston writes in the
booklet. "The musical style and texture of Bryne's suites had a
considerable influence on the next generation of composers, especially
Blow and Purcell and they illuminate the development of their constituent
dances during a period of gradual evolution and growing continental
influence." Bryne was one of the first English composers to organise
his dances into suites by key. Most suites consist of three dances:
almain, corant and saraband. Sometimes the almain is replaced by an ayre,
and some suites have an additional fourth movement, a jig almain.
"The jig-almain is a curious amalgam of two dance-types – the
almain and the jig. It is relatively rare in English keyboard music,
appearing only for a brief time, and in terms of the keyboard is almost
unique to Bryne."
To put Bryne's music into historical context, music by preceding
generations is added. There are a couple of anonymous pieces as well as
compositions by John Bull and by Christopher Gibbons, son of Orlando, and
Bryne's predecessor as organist at Westminster Abbey.
In the booklet Charlston states that keyboard music was played on any
instrument a player had at his disposal. This is reflected in the choice
of instruments on this disc. Two different harpsichords are used: copies
of a single manual harpsichord by Ioannes Couchet of 1645 and of a double
manual harpsichord by Ioannes Ruckers of 1624. In addition he uses a
spinet, copied after Charles Haward (c.1680) and an organ. The latter was
built 1702-04 by Renatus Harris at St Botolph's Aldgate, probably
England's oldest surviving church organ. The tuning of all instruments is
either 1/6 or 1/4 comma meantone and the pitch varies from a=442 (organ)
to a=415.
Some pieces are played more than once, on different instruments and
sometimes in slightly different versions. This contributes to the
variation in the programme on this disc. But it is first and foremost
Bryne's music itself which keeps the listener's attention. This is just
excellent, and it is a great pleasure that it has been put on disc and
brought to the attention of music lovers. Terence Charlston is an expert
guide and stylish performer. The recording quality is first-class, and so
are the programme notes. The booklet also contains all the relevant
information regarding the instruments, tuning, pitch as well as the number
of every individual piece in the upcoming edition. I strongly recommend
this disc of so far unjustly neglected repertoire.
Johan van Veen
Back to Recordings
|