Elegy: Purcell & Blow - Countertenor Duets
£11.35
In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day
Despatch Information
This despatch estimate is based on information from both our own stock and the UK supplier's stock.
If ordering multiple items, we will aim to send everything together so the longest despatch estimate will apply to the complete order.
If you would rather receive certain items more quickly, please place them on a separate order.
If any unexpected delays occur, we will keep you informed of progress via email and not allow other items on the order to be held up.
If you would prefer to receive everything together regardless of any delay, please let us know via email.
Pre-orders will be despatched as close as possible to the release date.
Label: Vivat
Cat No: VIVAT118
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Vocal/Choral
Release Date: 27th September 2019
Contents
Works
Ah, heav'n! What is't I hear?An Ode on the death of Mr. Henry Purcell
No, Lesbia, no, you ask in vain (The Queen's Epicedium)
Paratum cor meum
Bonduca or The British Heroine, Z574
O dive custos Auriacae domus, Z504
O solitude, my sweetest choice, Z406
Timon of Athens, Z632
Artists
Iestyn Davies (countertenor)James Hall (countertenor)
The King’s Consort
Conductor
Robert KingWorks
Ah, heav'n! What is't I hear?An Ode on the death of Mr. Henry Purcell
No, Lesbia, no, you ask in vain (The Queen's Epicedium)
Paratum cor meum
Bonduca or The British Heroine, Z574
O dive custos Auriacae domus, Z504
O solitude, my sweetest choice, Z406
Timon of Athens, Z632
Artists
Iestyn Davies (countertenor)James Hall (countertenor)
The King’s Consort
Conductor
Robert KingAbout
This beautifully themed programme of solos and duets centres on elegies, and concludes with Blow’s magnificent ‘Ode on the death of Purcell’. Rarely heard together on one recording are a set of three substantial elegies composed by Purcell and Blow to commemorate the untimely death of the much-loved Queen Mary. A highlight is Iestyn’s seraphic rendition of the melancholy masterpiece, ‘O solitude’. Around these come duets both famous and less familiar, including ‘Hark how the songsters’, Blow’s ravishing ‘Ah, heav’n, what is’t I hear?’, the deliciously languid ‘In vain the am’rous flute’ and, of course, ‘Sound the trumpet’. John Blow’s outstanding ‘Ode on the death of Mr Henry Purcell’ is not only a heartfelt tribute to his colleague, but one of the most outstanding English works of the era.
Recorded in a new world-class recording venue, Alpheton New Maltings, demonstrating its exceptional acoustic of striking clarity and warmth.
Sound/Video
Paused
-
1Purcell - Hark how the songsters
-
2Purcell - In vain the am'rous flute
-
3Purcell - O solitude, my sweetest choice
-
4Purcell - Chaconne from Dioclesian 'Two in one upon a ground'
-
5Blow - Ah heav'n, what is't I hear?
-
6Purcell - Sound the trumpet
-
7Purcell - Since the toils and hazards of war
-
8Purcell - Sing, sing, ye druids
-
9Blow - Paratum cor meum
-
10Purcell - The Queen's Epicedium: Incassum Lesbia
-
11Purcell - The Queen's Epicedium: No, Lesbia, no, you ask in vain
-
12Blow - O dive custos Auriciae domus
-
13Blow - An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell: Mark how the lark and linnet sing
-
14Blow - An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell: But in the close of night
-
15Blow - An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell: So ceas'd the rival crew when Purcell came
-
16Blow - An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell: We beg not hell, our Orpheus to restore
-
17Blow - An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell: The pow'r of harmony too well they knew
-
18Blow - An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell: The heav'nly quire, who heard his notes from high
-
19Blow - An Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell: Ye brethren of the lyre, and tuneful voice
Europadisc Review
The disc takes its title from the two main works, Three Elegies upon the much lamented loss of our late most gracious Queen Mary (1695), and Blow’s extended Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell (1696). The death in December 1694 of Queen Mary, whose reign had done so much to stabilise the monarchy following the deposition of her brother James II in 1688, came as a huge shock to the country, and the sincere tributes in the months that followed included the Three Elegies published by John Playford. These comprised an elegy (or epicedium) in both Latin and English by a Mr Herbert, the former set by Purcell and the latter by Blow, together with a third elegy, O dive custos Auriciae domus, by Henry Parker, set by Purcell. The first two are for solo voice, Purcell’s set as two semi-recitatives framing a central aria, brimming over with the highly sensitive word-setting that had become his trademark, and Blow’s a brilliant four-verse structure (ABCA’), each section presented as a contrast to its predecessor, with the first, second and fourth set over the same ostinato bass. Both works are gorgeously sung here by Davies, and he is joined in O dive custos by Hall, their perfectly-matched countertenor voices (Hall’s a shade lighter) entwined in grief in this miniature masterpiece.
Purcell’s own death in November 1695 at the age of 36 was even more of a shock to London’s musical community, with a plethora of poetic and musical tributes soon appearing, and few will have felt it more keenly than John Blow, ten years his friend’s senior. His expansive Ode is organised in three broad sections (further sectional sub-divisions result here in seven tracks), the outer duets framing a central vocal solo. Two recorders (instruments traditionally associated with mourning and the otherworldly) join the continuo section, and the playing of Rebecca Miles and Ian Wilson adds welcome rays of light to the immensely stylish and moving singing of Davies and Hall, as do Blow’s contrasting moods and tempi, often as much celebratory as mournful.
The rest of the programme is more exuberant in tone, including Blow’s ‘Ah heav’n, what is’t I hear?’ from his 1691 Ode for St Cecilia, and his engaging early, Italianate setting of Psalm 107, Paratum cor meum. All the other works are by Purcell, including wonderfully pert performances of ‘Hark! How the songsters’ (from his music for Timon of Athens) and ‘Sound the trumpet’ (from Come ye Sons of Art). There’s an earthy vitality to ‘Sing, ye druids’ from Bonduca, or The British Heroine, and gentle solemnity to the opening section of the solo ‘Since the toils and hazards of war’ (from Dioclesian), both pieces again spotlighting the recorder playing of Miles and Wilson. Throughout, the continuo playing of Lynda Sayce (theorbo and baroque guitar), Reiko Ichise (bass viol) and Robert King (harpsichord and chamber organ) is a joy, consistently sensitive, whether in reflective or animative mode, with some ear-catching guitar strumming in ‘Hark! How the songsters’. Over their supportive playing, Davies’s and Hall’s voices weave miracles of nuance and expressivity.
No countertenor disc of Purcell would be complete without the hypnotic beauties of O solitude, my sweetest choice, cast over a wondrously introspective ground bass (a Purcell speciality). Here and in the sublime duet ‘In vain the am’rous flute’ (from Hail! Bright Cecilia) Davies and his colleagues are at their finest, setting the seal on an unfailingly fascinating and absorbing disc, splendidly recorded and presented. As a celebration of two of the outstanding figures of the English baroque, this marvellous album is unlikely to be bettered.
Error on this page? Let us know here
Need more information on this product? Click here