Naxos 8.553982
Suites and Transcriptions
for Harpsichord
Henry Purcell
Eight Suites Z.660-668
Overture in gamut flat (The Virtuous Wife) Z.T693
Chaconne in G minor Z.T680
A New Ground in E minor Z.T682
Overture in C (Bonduca Z.574/1)
Overture in D (The Fairy Queen) Z.T692
Overture in D minor (King Arthur) Z.628/2
Round O (Abdelazer) Z.T684
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GRAMOPHONE APRIL 1998
"
Keyboard players have always regretted that so little of Purcell’s
music for them has survived: it consists mainly of eight very small
suites of pieces put together after his death by his widow, plus a
few dance movements and suchlike. Terence Charlston puts up a
spirited defence of the suites for their absorption of Italian and
French influences (hence the written-out notes inegales) into a recognizably English style, their diversity
of texture and their melodic invention; but the late Professor
Westrup’s claim that they are worthy predecessors of Bach’s
suites takes no account of the difference of scale involved. The
quality of some individual movements stands out, however – for
example the Almands of Nos. 2 and 8, the Corant and Hornpipe of No.
7. Quite recently we had two very pleasurable recordings of the
suites, from Sophie Yates and Olivier Baumont. Charlston steers, as
it were, a middle course between the freshness but sobriety of the
one and the fantasy and boldness of the other. He shows fine clarity
of finger and of ornamentation and plenty of spirit, but obviously
believes in maintaining strict tempos throughout – perhaps
excessively so in the New
Ground (one of the extras he includes), in view of its vocal
origin. Also included are transcriptions (not all definitely by
Purcell himself) of half a dozen theatre pieces – some of which
have not been previously recorded. Among the most attractive are an
Overture in gamut flat from the The
Virtuous Wife and an Overture in C, ending in gloriously bold
chromaticisms, from Bonduca.
He plays the alternative Preludes to the second and fourth suites
(in addition to the usual ones) but not the A minor Jig played by
Baumont, as the manuscript of this was not available
three-and-a-half years ago when the present disc was made."
Record of the Month CLASSIC FM MAGAZINE
MARCH 1998
"The Purcell tercentenary
celebrations seem a world away, back in 1995, and all
the enter-prising releases which for the layman consolidated his,
reputation as England's musical 'bard', Since then, there have been
very few notable Purcell recordings but for a mini-revival look no
further than the home-grown harpsichord virtuoso Terence Charlston
for an Infection of Purcell's heady act. Charlston's disc of Suites
and Transcriptions for Harpsichord (Naxos 6.553982) is a
performance of calculated elegance and focused spontaneity, The
Suites are less well known than the great dramatic, string or sacred
works but they display a refinement, melodic shape and beauty of
invention which is sure to delight a broad listenership. The
contemporary transcriptions of famous Purcell opera tunes are
infectious and boldly rendered."
The
flying inkpot
Henry Purcell, whose
tercentenary we celebrated in 1995, is absolutely without doubt the
greatest, most magnificent setter to music of the English language.
Like Shakespeare, no Englishman has done more nor matched the
proficiency, magic and beauty of their artistic work with the
English language. Purcell ("PER'sl" is one of the many
unverified ways to pronounce it) not only caught every single
nuance, every rhythmic idiosyncrasy of this messy language, he did
the best thing possible: to turn the language into music.
Likewise, the keyboard music
of the English Renaissance and Baroque (from Tallis to Byrd to Bull
to Handel) has always retained, almost stubbornly, the flavour of
"Englishness", that unmistakable melancholy of the Isles
and the vigourous dances of the English folk.
This collection of
harpsichord pieces is centred on the Eight
Suites from "A choice Collection of Lessons for the
Harpsichord", published posthumously by Purcell's wife, who was
widowed when he died tragically at the age of only 36.
The "suites" in
these times were of course dance suites of the Italian or French
mould. Almost all begin with
an expository, introductory prelude, which like an overture, sets
the mood of the suite and its key. As such, one thing the
harpsichordist needs to do is to make an impression, even when the Prelude
to the First Suite is only 33 seconds long! The preludes are
followed by dances of the Almand,
Corant, Minuet, Saraband (etc.) variety, each with a wide range
of moods, all very easy listening.
In his notes, harpsichordist
Terence R. Charlston explains how Purcell "goes to great length
to express the French convention of notes inéales (where a passage
of even note is given an uneven lilt by holding every other note a
little longer than its written value.)" I'm no keyboardist so
information like this - and Naxos has the kind of sleeve notes very
very few companies can match - offers a chance for musical
enlightenment. You can hear this effect quite clearly once you
understand what Mr. Charlston, Head of Early Music at the Royal
Academy of Music, means. And it adds to the emotional and expressive
qualities of both the music and the player. Plus of course Purcell
himself, whose vocal music can be extremely moving in the best of
the English melancholia traditions.
Purcell was very famous for
his incidental music for theatre - in fact here's another Andrew
Lloyd Webber who could have given Handel a run for his money. The
Suites were written more for the specialist player, while the
general public was more interested in the theatre stuff, as
Charlston notes. To help with the sales of the published scores,
transcriptions of theatre music were included - and it so is here.
(In fact, a certain saxophonist has done the same thing with a
certain irritating song about a big sunken ship.) This disc is
tracked according to the sequence above. To be honest, the
differences between the Suites and the theatre transcriptions are
not always obvious, but they do make for interesting breaks between
each Suite in a 38-track CD (which explains why I have no intention
of going into detail). Most of the pieces here, by the way, are
between 1-2 minutes.
Anyway, some of the theatre
bits are quite remarkable, as in the relentless finality of the G
minor Chaconne from Timon
of Athens or the very famous tune of the "Round O" (rondeau)
from Abdelazer. All Britten fans should know that this is the basic theme
used in his Young Person's
Guide to the Orchestra. The harpsichord transcription here is
fascinating in its revealing the surprisingly dissonant chords of
the original, in the same way Liszt's piano transcriptions of the
Beethoven Symphonies do.
A whole disc of harpsichord
music can be very tiring. Fortunately, Charlston's playing of these
little pieces are genial and purposeful, neither too forceful (which
can make the harpsichord sound pretty violent) nor too bland. Though
I still wouldn't advise listening to this in a single stretch, it's
perfect evening fare in little thoughtful doses, especially at such
a price.
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