Early Music articles from February 1993

Early Music archives from February 1993

The Tuscan piano in the 1780s: some builders, composers and performers.
February 1, 1993... Tuscany has attracted the attention of historians of the piano almost entirely because of its crucial role in the development of the instrument from the end of the 17th century to the 1740s. It was in Florence that Bartolomeo Cristofori,...

Handel: Trio Sonatas, Op. 2. (London Baroque)
February 1, 1993... The re-issue of CRD'S anthology of Handel's chamber music on CD deserves a warm welcome: the recordings were reviewed successively in Early music, xiii/1, xiv/1, xv/1 (Feb 1985, Feb 1986, Feb 1987) on their original appearance. The musical...

Handel: Trio Sonatas, Op. 5. (London Baroque)
February 1, 1993... The re-issue of CRD'S anthology of Handel's chamber music on CD deserves a warm welcom: the recordings were reviewed successively in Early music, xiii/1, xiv/1, xv/1 (Feb 1985, Feb 1986, Feb 1987) on their original appearance. The musical...

Bach: Italian Concerto, French Overture, 4 Duetti. (Kenneth Gilbert)
February 1, 1993... Having enthusiastically reviewed Christophe Rousset's splendid Rameau recording (EM, Aug 1992), it was a pleasure to receive soon afterwards his Bach recordings listed above. I have no doubt that Rousset, now 31, is one of the finest...

The check in some early pianos and the development of piano technique around the turn of the 18th century.
February 1, 1993... Towards the end of the 18th century two main traditions of piano building had become established, one in England, the other in Germany and Vienna. In 1827 Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837) retrospectively described the differences between the...

'The Fairy Queen:' a fresh look at the issues. (original manuscript of Henry Purcell's opera)
February 1, 1993... [Some] ha' not the heart to believe anything, But what they see in print. Aye, that's an error Has abus'd many; but we shall reform it, As many things beside (we have a hope) Are crept among the popular abuses.(1) ...

'To soften the sound of the hoboy:' the muted oboe in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
February 1, 1993... The technique of muting, today most often associated with brass and stringed instruments, was also applied in the 18th and early 19th centuries to woodwind instruments, especially oboes and clarinets.(1) The muted oboe was used for both...

Boyvin, Grigny, D'Anglebert, and Bach's assimilation of French Classical organ music. (Jacques Boyvin, Nicolas de Grigny, Jean-Henri D'Anglebert and Johann Sebastian Bach)
February 1, 1993... |In the art of the organ, he took the works of Bruhns, Reinken, Buxtehude and several good French organists as models', runs the well known phrase of the Obituary of 1754, describing J. S. Bach's Arnstadt years, the period when, according to...

A Handel harpsichord. (George Frideric Handel)
February 1, 1993... Before it arrived at the Bate Collection, all that was known about the William Smith harpsichord (illu. 1) was to be found in a brief summary in Boalch's Makers of the harpsichord and clavichord.(1) It was said to have two sets of strings...

Music in Late Renaissance and Early Baroque Italy.
February 1, 1993... This book is only partly an exploration of the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque in the context of Italian music. In reality, it is a history of Italian music from the era of Netherlandish dominance at the beginning of the 16th...

Music and Merchants: The Laudesi Companies of Republican Florence.
February 1, 1993... Continuing the fine series of monographs on music in late medieval and Renaissance cities produced by Clarendon Press (Lewis Lockwood's Ferrara, Reinhard Strohm's Bruges, and Frank Dobbins's Lyons) is Blake Wilson's recent study of the...

Byrd Studies.
February 1, 1993... William Bryrd was proud of his longevity. Out of all the many hundreds of 16th- and 17th-century wills that I have studied, his is the only one to include a reference to its writer's age: its intimation that on 15 November 1622 he was in his...

Bach's Clavier-Ubung III: The Making of a Print, With a Companion Study of the Canonic Variations on 'Vom Himmel hoch,' BWV 769.
February 1, 1993... Since the 1950s the main achievements in Bach research have been based on a new examination of music sources. In the case of the vocal works--many of which can be dated virtually to the day of composition--this has led to a fundamental change...

The Bach Manuscripts of Johann Peter Kellner and His Circle: A Case Study in Reception History.
February 1, 1993... Since the 1950s the main achievements in Bach research have been based on a new examination of music sources. In the case of the vocal works--many of which can be dated virtually to the day of composition--this has led to a fundamental change...

The Impressario's Ten Commandments: Continental Recruitments for Italian Opera in London, 1763-64.
February 1, 1993... A prestigious opera house featuring foreign-language operas and ballets; international stars demanding colossal fees; exorbitant prices that only an elite could afford; a beleaguered manager embroiled in public debate . . . First-rate opera...

A Handbook of Historical Stringing Practice for Keyboard Instruments.
February 1, 1993... A random opening of this book is very likely to reveal a table or a graph of the stringing of some old instrument of no immediate interest. This can easily lead to the impression that it is a scholarly work of only archival interest. This...

Keyboard Compositions, 2d ed.
February 1, 1993... Clare G. Rayner's edition of Christopher Gibbon's keyboard compositions first appeared in 1967. While acknowledging that Gibbon's fame during his lifetime stemmed largely from his skill as a performer. Rayner also recognized his importance...

Cantiones sacrae octonis vocibus: 1613.
February 1, 1993... Although almost certainly composed in the Baroque period and by an English musician employed at the archducal court in Brussels, the majority of the 30 double-choir motets in Peter Philips's eight-part Cantiones sacrae (1613) are inspired...

Fifteen Motets for Solo Voice and Continuo.
February 1, 1993... Although almost certainly composed in the Baroque period and by an English musician employed at the archducal court in Brussels, the majority of the 30 double-choir motets in Peter Philips's eight-part Cantiones sacrae (1613) are inspired...

Die liturgischen Hymnen in Schweden II, 2 vols.
February 1, 1993... When Carl-Allan MOberg died in 1978 he left behind a large quantity of transcriptions and other material from his work on liturgical hymns in Sweden, of which he published only one volume (1947). This consists mainly of information about...

On Liturgical Hymn Melodies in Sweden During the Middle Ages.
February 1, 1993... When Carl-Allan Moberg died in 1978 he left behind a large quantity of transcriptions and other material from his work on liturgical hymns in Sweden, of which he published only one volume (1947). This consists mainly of information about text...

The Art of the Unmeasured Prelude for Harpsichord.
February 1, 1993... Select holidays in France should add an |Unmeasured Prelude Experience' to canoeing in the Camargue, deep-sea diving in the Dordogne and picnicking in the Perigueux. Devotees of French harpsichord music would find it an irresistible lure. The...

La Rue: Missa Cum iocunditate, Motets, Gaude Virgo, Vexilla Regis/Passio Domini, Plorer gemier/Requiem, O Salutaris Hostia, Ave Regina Celorum, Delicta Juventutis, Considera Israel.
February 1, 1993... Over the past few years it has become increasingly clear that the privileged position which Josquin enjoys in music history is largely a 16th-century construction. If he appears to us today as the most influential composer of his time, the...

Obrecht: Missa Ave Regina Celorum, Salve Crux.
February 1, 1993... Over the past few years it has become increasingly clear that the privileged position which Josquin enjoys in music history is largely a 16th-century construction. If he appears to us today as the most influential composer of his time, the...

Frye: Ave Regina Celorum.
February 1, 1993... Over the past few years it has become increasingly clear that the privileged position which Josquin enjoys in music history is largely a 16th-century construction. If he appears to us today as the most influential composer of his time, the...

In morte di Madonna Laura: Madrigal Cycle After Texts of Petrarca.
February 1, 1993... This diverse selection of recordings of 16th-century Italian secular vocal music gives rise to some interesting comparisons between current approaches to performance of this music and the assumptions which underlie them. The two...

Italia mia: Musical Imagination of the Renaissance.
February 1, 1993... This diverse selection of recordings of 16th-century Italian secular vocal music gives rise to some interesting comparisons between current approaches to performance of this music and the assumptions which underlie them. The two...

Italian Renaissance Madrigals.
February 1, 1993... This diverse selection of recordings of 16th-century Italian secular vocal music gives rise to some interesting comparisons between current approaches to performance of this music and the assumptions which underlie them. The two...

Lassus: Chansons and Moresche.
February 1, 1993... This diverse selection of recordings of 16th-century Italian secular vocal music gives rise to some interesting comparisons between current approaches to performance of this music and the assumptions which underlie them. The two...

Renaissance Music from the Courts of Mantua and Ferrara: Circa 1500.
February 1, 1993... This diverse selection of recordings of 16th-century Italian secular vocal music gives rise to some interesting comparisons between current approaches to performance of this music and the assumptions which underlie them. The two...

Taverner: 'Western Wynde' Mass, O splendor gloriae, Te Deum, Alleluia, Veni, electa mea.
February 1, 1993... The Sixteen begin their latest Taverner release with the Jesus antiphon O splendor gloriae. This is perhaps the least distinguished track on a disc whose performance are otherwise impressive. Leaving aside the tendency to sharpness and the...

Sheppard: Church Music, vol. 3.
February 1, 1993... The Sixteen begin their latest Taverner release with the Jesus antiphon O splendor gloriae. This is perhaps the least distinguished track on a disc whose performances are otherwise impressive. Leaving aside the tendency to sharpness and the...

Weelkes: Cathedral Music.
February 1, 1993... The Sixteen begin their latest Taverner release with the Jesus antiphon O splendor gloriae. This is perhaps the least distinguished track on a disc whose performances are otherwise impressive. Leaving aside the tendency to sharpness and the...

Compline with Anthems and Motets.
February 1, 1993... The Sixteen begin their latest Taverner release with the Jesus antiphon O splendor gloriae. This is perhaps the least distinguished track on a disc whose performances are otherwise impressive. Leaving aside the tendency to sharpness and the...

Gibbons: Anthems and Instrumental Music.
February 1, 1993... The Sixteen begin their latest Taverner release with the Jesus antiphon O splendor gloriae. This is perhaps the least distinguished track on a disc whose performances are otherwise impressive. Leaving aside the tendency to sharpness and the...

Praetorius: Magnificat, Aus Tiefer Not, Der Tag Vertreibt, Venite Exultemus, Maria Magdalena, Peccavi Fateor, Der CXVI. Psalm Davids.
February 1, 1993... Praetorius is not well represented in the record catalogues; indeed, he is known chiefly for his Terpsichore dances, of which the harmonies alone are his, not the tunes. This is particularly unfortunate, since of the 21 publications--all of...

Schutz: Psalmen Davids.
February 1, 1993... Heinrich Schutz boldly announced himself in the churches of 17th-century Germany with the publication of his Psalmen Davids sampt etlichen Moteten und Concerten (op.2) of 1619. Written on a large scale for multiple vocal and instrumental...

Schutz: Cantiones Sacrae, 1625.
February 1, 1993... Heinrich Schutz boldly announced himself in the churches of 17th-century Germany with the publication of his Psalmen Davids sampt etlichen Moteten und Concerten (op.2) of 1619. Written on a large scale for multiple vocal and instrumental...

Schutz: Der Schwanengesang.
February 1, 1993... Heinrich Schutz boldly announced himself in the churches of 17th-century Germany with the publication of his Psalmen Davids sampt etlichen Moteten und Concerten (op.2) of 1619. Written on a large scale for multiple vocal and instrumental...

El organo historico espanol, 8 vols.
February 1, 1993... The 500th anniversary of Columbus's famous voyage has resulted in an extraordinary rush of recordings of Iberian music. The main aim of the present series is to demonstrate a large number of fine and recently restored Spanish organs by way of...

Purcell: King Arthur.
February 1, 1993... Perhaps a commercially produced video is the only satisfactory way to market a problem score like King Arthur for domestic consumption. Channel 4 gave us its spectacular 1589 Florentine Intermedi, for example, and the imaginative use of St...

Purcell: Complete Odes and Welcome Songs, vols. 3-8.
February 1, 1993... With these six discs the King's Consort have completed a notable pioneering survey. Fewer than half of Purcell's odes had been recorded previously; fewer still are ever heard in the concert hall. In this series the handful of familiar odes...

French Baroque Cantatas and Sonatas.
February 1, 1993... |There are so many things wherein French music has the advantage over the Italian, and as many more wherein the Italian is superior to the French, that, without a particular examination into the one and the other, I think it impossible to...

French Cantatas of the 18th Century.
February 1, 1993... |There are so many things wherein French music has the advantage over the Italian, and as many more wherein the Italian is superior to the French, that, without a particular examination into the one and the other, I think it impossible to...

Boismortier: Recorder Sonatas.
February 1, 1993... |There are so many things wherein French music has the advantage over the Italian, and as many more wherein the Italian is superior to the French, that, without a particular examination into the one and the other, I think it impossible to...

Marais: Pieces de Viole du Troisieme Livre, 1711.
February 1, 1993... |There are so many things wherein French music has the advantage over the Italian, and as many more wherein the Italian is superior to the French, that, without a particular examination into the one and the other, I think it impossible to...

Handel: The Chamber Music, 6 vols.
February 1, 1993... The re-issue of CRD's anthology of Handel's chamber music on CD deserves a warm welcome: the recordings were reviewed successively in Early music, xii/1, xiv/1, xv/1 (Feb 1985, Feb 1986, Feb 1987) on their original appearance. The musical...

Handel: Trio Sonatas, Op. 5. (Siegbert Rampe, La Stravaganza Salzburg)
February 1, 1993... The re-issue of CRD's anthology of Handel's chamber music on CD deserves a warm welcom: the recordings were reviewed successively in Early music, xiii/1, xiv/1, xv/1 (Feb 1985, Feb 1986, Feb 1987) on their original appearance. The musical...

Bach: Italian Concerto, French Overture, 4 Duetti, Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue.
February 1, 1993... Having enthusiastically reviewed Christophe Rousset's splendid Rameau recording (EM, Aug 1992), it was a pleasure to receive soon afterwards his Bach recordings listed above. I have no doubt that Rousset, now 31, is one of the finest...

Bach: Trio Sonatas, BWV 525-30.
February 1, 1993... Having enthusiastically reviewed Christophe Rousset's splendid Rameau recording (EM, Aug 1992), it was a pleasure to receive soon afterwards his Bach recordings listed above. I have no doubt that Rousset, now 31, is one of the finest...

Vivaldi: Concerto for 3 Violins.
February 1, 1993... Having enthusiastically reviewed Christophe Rousset's splendid Rameau recording (EM, Aug 1992), it was a pleasure to receive soon afterwards his Bach recordings listed above. I have no doubt that Rousset, now 31, is one of the finest...

Bach: Concertos for 3 and 4 Harpsichords.
February 1, 1993... Having enthusiastically reviewed Christophe Rousset's splendid Rameau recording (EM, Aug 1992), it was a pleasure to receive soon afterwards his Bach recordings listed above. I have no doubt that Rousset, now 31, is one of the finest...

Graun: Der Tod Jesu.
February 1, 1993... These three discs include welcome recordings of two highly significant work in the history of 18th-century sacred music. Carl Heinrich Graun's Der Tod Jesu and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Die Auferstehung and Himmelfahrt Jesu were two of the...

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel: Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu.
February 1, 1993... These three discs include welcome recordings of two highly significant works in the history of 18th-century sacred music. Carl Heinrich Graun's Der Tod Jesu and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu were two of the...

Hasse: Cantate a Due Voci.
February 1, 1993... These three discs include welcome recordings of two highly significant works in the history of 18th-century sacred music. Carl Heinrich Graun's Der Tod Jesu and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu were two of the...

Eighteenth-Century Music for Two Keyboard Instruments.
February 1, 1993... The 18th-century repertory for two keyboard instruments without orchestra is rather limited, and the Duo Brauchli-Elizondo's selection is welcome not least because it presents works which are relatively or almost totally unknown. Unusually,...

Haydn: Harpsichord Sonatas.
February 1, 1993... The 18th-century repertory for two keyboard instruments without orchestra is rather limited, and the Duo Brauchli-Elizondo's selection is welcome not least because it presents works which are relatively or almost totally unknown. Unusually,...

Mozart: Concertos, KV107.
February 1, 1993... The 18th-century repertory for two keyboard instruments without orchestra is rather limited, and the Duo Brauchli-Elizondo's selection is welcome not least because it presents works which are relatively or almost totally unknown. Unusually,...

Mozart, Leopold: Sonata Da Camera A Tre No. 4.
February 1, 1993... The 18th-century repertory for two keyboard instruments without orchestra is rather limited, and the Duo Brauchli-Elizondo's selection is welcome not least because it presents works which are relatively or almost totally unknown. Unusually,...

Bach, Johann Christian: Sonata in D Major, Op. 20, No. 2; Keyboard Concerto in E Flat Major, Op. 7, No. 5.
February 1, 1993... The 18th-century repertory for two keyboard instruments without orchestra is rather limited, and the Duo Brauchli-Elizondo's selection is welcome not least because it presents works which are relatively or almost totally unknown. Unusually,...

Mozart: Piano Sonatas, Fantasie, Rondos.
February 1, 1993... The 18th-century repertory for two keyboard instruments without orchestra is rather limited, and the Duo Brauchli-Elizondo's selection is welcome not least because it presents works which are relatively or almost totally unknown. Unusually,...

Handel/Mozart: Acis und Galatea.
February 1, 1993... Once, and not so long ago, Handel arr. Mozart was standard fare. Now it re-emerges almost as a historical curiosity. Had Acis and Galatea been tampered with by any lesser light than Mozart, probably no self-respecting conductor or record...

Handel: Clori, Tirsi e Fileno.
February 1, 1993... Once, and not so long ago, Handel arr. Mozart was standard fare. Now it re-emerges almost as a historical curiosity. Had Acis and Galatea ben tampered with by any lesser light than Mozart, probably no self-respecting conductor or record...

Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito.
February 1, 1993... John Eliot Gardiner follows his magnificent Idomeneo with a Clemenza di Tito scarcely less fine. The approach, like th cast, is similar, the simple recitatives fluidly accompanied by fortepiano, the occasionally brisk tempos precise and...

Mozart: Die Zauberflote.
February 1, 1993... John Eliot Gardiner follows his magnificent Idomeneo with a Clemenza di Tito scarcely less fine. The approach, like the cast, is similar, the simple recitatives fluidly accompanied by fortepiano, the occasionally brisk tempos precise and...

Twentieth Annual Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Music. (University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 10-13 July 1992)
February 1, 1993... Ywentieth Annual Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Music University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 10-13 July 1992 The Twentieth Annual Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Music highlighted a prodigious range of new musicological...

Symposium: Music in the Escorial. (El Escorial, Madrid, 1-4 September 1992)
February 1, 1993... Symposium: Music in the Escorial El Escorial, Madrid, 1-4 September 1992 The Royal Monastery of the Escorial, set by Philip II in the rocky foothills of the Guadarrama mountain range 48 kilometres north-west of Madrid, provided not just...