Composer: Thomas Arne, Wolfgang Ebner, Johann Jakob Froberger, George Frideric Handel, Johann Kaspar Kerll, Domenico Scarlatti, Matthias Weckmann, Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow
Performer: Julian Perkins
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Deux-Elles
Catalogue: DXL1191
Release: 2023
Size: 1.47 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. Ebner: Capriccio sopra l’aria Bergamasco, WMin 731
Froberger: Suite in A minor, FbWV 601
02. I. Allemand
03. II. Courant
04. III. Saraband
05. Weckmann: Partita in A Minor: I. Gigue
06. Kerll: Canzona in E minor
07. Kerll: Canzona 6
08. Handel: Sonata in G minor HV 580: Larghetto
09. Handel: Impertinence, HWV 494
10. Handel: Air in G minor, HWV467
Zachow: Suite in B minor
11. I. Allemande
12. II. Courante
13. III. Sarabande
14. IV. Fuga Finalis
Handel: Keyboard Suite, HWV 452 in G minor
15. I. Allemande
16. II. Courante
17. III. Sarabande
18. IV. Gigue
19. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata K9 in D minor
20. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonata K208 in A major
Arne: Sonata No. 1
21. I. Andante
22. II. Adagio
23. III. Allegro
24. Handel: Jesu meine Freude, HWV480
25. Handel: Fugue in C minor, HWV610
26. Handel: Fugue in B-flat major, HWV607
27. Handel: Lascia ch’io pianga (from Rinaldo)
This album celebrates the delicacy and intimacy of the clavichord, the harpsichord’s quieter cousin, which was central to the daily life of musicians for centuries. The title is inspired by the story that Handel’s early biographer John Mainwaring tells, about the young Handel secretly going up to the attic during the night to practise on the clavichord, in defiance of his father. The pieces in the first half are by some of those composers mentioned in a notebook of 1698, now lost, which Handel used while he was studying in Halle with Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow. The second half includes pieces Handel might have played on such an instrument to himself later in life, for relaxation and maybe even solace, away from the demands and intrigues of his frantic public life.
Dubbed ‘‘The Indiana Jones of Early Music’’ by BBC Radio 3, Julian Perkins brings a dynamic and adventurous spirit to all of his music-making. In 2022 he succeeded Monica Huggett as Artistic Director of the Portland Baroque Orchestra in Oregon, USA. Based in the UK, he is also Artistic Director of Cambridge Handel Opera and the period-instrument ensemble Sounds Baroque, and enjoys a busy and varied career as a solo keyboard player, chamber musician and conductor/director.