Composer: Henry Purcell
Performer: The Parley of Instruments
Conductor: Roy Goodman
Number of Discs: 3
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Catalogue: CDS44381-3
Release: 2009
Size:
Recovery: +3%
Scan:
CD 01
The Prophetess, or The History of Dioclesian Suite, Z627
01. Suite. Movement 1. Overture
02. Suite. Movement 2. Preludio
03. Suite. Movement 3. Song Tune ‘Let the soldiers rejoice’
04. Suite. Movement 4. Trumpet Tune
05. Suite. Movement 5. Country Dance
06. Suite. Movement 6. Air
07. Suite. Movement 7. Hornpipe
08. Suite. Movement 8. Air. Trumpet Tune
09. Suite. Movement 9. Canaries
King Arthur, or The British Worthy Suite, Z628
10. Suite. Movement 01. Overture
11. Suite. Movement 02. Air
12. Suite. Movement 03. Air
13. Suite. Movement 04. Song Tune ‘Fairest Isle’
14. Suite. Movement 05. Hornpipe
15. Suite. Movement 06. Hornpipe ‘Come, shepherds’
16. Suite. Movement 07. Song Tune ‘How blest are shepherds’
17. Suite. Movement 08. Air
18. Suite. Movement 09. Song Tune ‘Round thy coasts’
19. Suite. Movement 10. Song Tune ‘Come if you dare’
20. Suite. Movement 11. Trumpet Tune
21. Suite. Movement 12. Trumpet Tune
22. Suite. Movement 13. Chaconne
The Fairy Queen, Z629: excerpts
23. Suite. Movement 01. Overture
24. Suite. Movement 02. Hornpipe
25. Suite. Movement 03. Air
26. Suite. Movement 04. Air
27. Suite. Movement 05. Rondeau
28. Suite. Movement 06. Preludio
29. Suite. Movement 07. Hornpipe
30. Suite. Movement 08. Overture. Symphony while the Swans Come Forward
31. Suite. Movement 09. Song Tune ‘If love’s a sweet passion’
32. Suite. Movement 10. Jig
33. Suite. Movement 11. Dance for the Fairies
34. Suite. Movement 12. Air 4 in 2. Dance for the Followers of Night
35. Suite. Movement 13. Song Tune ‘Sing while we trip it’
36. Suite. Movement 14. Air
37. Suite. Movement 15. Air
38. Suite. Movement 16. Song Tune ‘Thus happy and free’
39. Suite. Movement 17. Chaconne. Dance for the Chinese Man and Woman
40. Suite. Movement 18. Air
The Indian Queen Suite, Z630
41. Suite. Movement 01. Overture
42. Suite. Movement 02. Trumpet Tune
43. Suite. Movement 03. Trumpet Tune. I come to sing great Zempoalla’s story
44. Suite. Movement 04. Air
45. Suite. Movement 05. Hornpipe
46. Suite. Movement 06. Air
47. Suite. Movement 07. Hornpipe
48. Suite. Movement 08. Air
49. Suite. Movement 09. Song Tune ‘We the spirits of the air’
50. Suite. Movement 10. Rondeau
CD 02
The Married Beau, or The Curious Impertinent Suite, Z603
01. Suite. Movement 1. Overture
02. Suite. Movement 2. Slow Air
03. Suite. Movement 3. Hornpipe
04. Suite. Movement 4. Air
05. Suite. Movement 5. Hornpipe
06. Suite. Movement 6. Jig
07. Suite. Movement 7. Trumpet Air
08. Suite. Movement 8. March
09. Suite. Movement 9. Hornpipe on a Ground
The Old Batchelor Suite, Z607
10. Suite. Movement 1. Overture
11. Suite. Movement 2. Hornpipe
12. Suite. Movement 3. Slow Air
13. Suite. Movement 4. Hornpipe
14. Suite. Movement 5. Rondeau
15. Suite. Movement 6. Minuet
16. Suite. Movement 7. Borry
17. Suite. Movement 8. March
18. Suite. Movement 9. Jig
Amphitryon, or The Two Sosias Suite, Z572
19. Suite. Movement 1. Overture
20. Suite. Movement 2. Saraband
21. Suite. Movement 3. Hornpipe
22. Suite. Movement 4. Scotch Tune
23. Suite. Movement 5. Air
24. Suite. Movement 6. Minuet
25. Suite. Movement 7. Hornpipe
26. Suite. Movement 8. Borry, or Gavotte
The Double Dealer Suite, Z592
27. Suite. Movement 1. Overture
28. Suite. Movement 2. Hornpipe
29. Suite. Movement 3. Minuet
30. Suite. Movement 4. Air
31. Suite. Movement 5. Hornpipe
32. Suite. Movement 6. Minuet. Slow Air
33. Suite. Movement 7. Minuet
34. Suite. Movement 8. Air
35. Suite. Movement 9. Air
Distress’d Innocence, or The Princess of Persia Suite, Z577
36. Suite. Movement 1. Overture
37. Suite. Movement 2. Air
38. Suite. Movement 3. Slow Air
39. Suite. Movement 4. Air
40. Suite. Movement 5. Hornpipe, or Jig
41. Suite. Movement 6. Rondeau
42. Suite. Movement 7. Air
43. Suite. Movement 8. Minuet
The Gordion Knot Unty’d Suite, Z597
44. Suite. Movement 1. Overture. Grave – Canzona
45. Suite. Movement 2. Air
46. Suite. Movement 3. Rondeau Minuet
47. Suite. Movement 4. Air
48. Suite. Movement 5. Jig ‘Lilliburlero’
49. Suite. Movement 6. Chaconne
50. Suite. Movement 7. Air
51. Suite. Movement 8. Minuet
CD 03
Abdelazar, or The Moor’s Revenge Suite, Z570
01. Suite. Movement 1. Overture. Grave – Canzona
02. Suite. Movement 2. Rondeau. Hornpipe
03. Suite. Movement 3. Air
04. Suite. Movement 4. Air
05. Suite. Movement 5. Minuet
06. Suite. Movement 6. Air
07. Suite. Movement 7. Jig
08. Suite. Movement 8. Hornpipe
09. Suite. Movement 9. Air
Bonduca, or The British Heroine Suite, Z574
10. Suite. Movement 1. Overture. Grave – Canzona
11. Suite. Movement 2. Song Tune ‘Britons, strike home’
12. Suite. Movement 3. Song Tune ‘To arms, to arms’
13. Suite. Movement 4. Air
14. Suite. Movement 5. Hornpipe
15. Suite. Movement 6. Air
16. Suite. Movement 7. Hornpipe
17. Suite. Movement 8. Air
18. Suite. Movement 9. Minuet
The Virtuous Wife, or Good luck at last Suite, Z611
19. Suite. Movement 1. Overture. Grave – Canzona
20. Suite. Movement 2. Song Tune ‘Ah, how sweet it is to love’
21. Suite. Movement 3. Slow Air
22. Suite. Movement 4. Air
23. Suite. Movement 5. Preludio
24. Suite. Movement 6. Hornpipe
25. Suite. Movement 7. Minuet
26. Suite. Movement 8. Minuet
27. Suite. Movement 9. Air ‘La Furstenburg’
The Fairy Queen, Z629: excerpts
28. Act IV Sonata ‘while the sun rises’. Movement 1. [Allegro]
29. Act IV Sonata ‘while the sun rises’. Movement 2. Canzona
30. Act IV Sonata ‘while the sun rises’. Movement 3. [Adagio]
31. Act IV Sonata ‘while the sun rises’. Movement 4. [Allegro] – [Adagio] – [Allegro]
Dido and Aeneas Suite, Z626
32. Act 1 Scene 1 No 01. Overture in G minor
Sir Anthony Love, or The Rambling Lady Suite, Z588
33. I. Overture
Timon of Athens Suite, Z632
34. Suite. Movement 1. Overture. Grave – Canzona – Adagio – Canzona
35. Suite. Movement 2. Curtain Tune on a Ground
The Indian Queen Suite, Z630
36. Act III. Symphony
All these works were published within 18 months of Purcell’s death. The 13 suites of choice movements from plays and semi-operas, entitled A Collection of Ayres, compos’d for theTheatre, and upon other occasions, may well have been the editing work of Purcell’s brother, Daniel.
Whoever it was had a rare combination of musical integrity and commercial flair: the pieces lifted from Purcell’s interpolations to plays are often reordered and arranged with a deftness and charm which conveys the spirit of the theatre as well as heightening the loss and poignancy of Purcell’s passing. How moving the Rondeau Minuet from The Gordian KnotUnty’d must have seemed to those who knew and loved Purcell.
As a major retrospective of Purcell’s life in the theatre, the Ayres for the Theatre mainly comprise instrumental dances from their original sources, though there are several movements readapted from sung airs, such as ‘Fairest isle’ from King Arthur and ‘If love’s a sweet passion’ from The Fairy Queen. The tunes are wonderful and varied, the inner part-writing skilful and the rhythmic imagination knows no bounds.
Even so, this isn’t music where more than a suite at a time can be recommended for ultimate satisfaction: stop while you still want more. And more you’ll most certainly want with Roy Goodman’s alert and distinctive direction. If a few of the movements sound a touch mundane and lack dynamism as one follows on from another, the positive side is that the performances are never forced and rarely mannered. For the semi-opera ‘suites’, Goodman employs a full orchestra. What The Parley of Instruments has in abundance is a cordiality of expression which seems so absolutely right, especially in the slower airs.