For people who just can’t bear to listen to another Christmas carol, this is the album. Completely instrumental, this is early music written with Christmas in mind, but it is in no way recognizable as Christmas music. These little heard pieces are brilliantly conducted and performed (as always) by Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert. I heard tracks 5 & 6 on the radio a few weeks before Christmas, when my spirits were suffering an uncharacteristic low, and found myself so completely moved by the beauty them, I had to have thos album. I didn’t know what the other pieces would be like, but they all turned out to be perfection. Each selection is just the right amount of colour and flourish, moving from lovely largos to vivd vivaces without ever leaving the listener reaching to turn the volume down or off. I found the entire “1 hour plus” album thoroughly uplifting and easy to get lost in. And best of all, I finally have an album that expresses musically how I feel about Christmas, that doesn’t irritate anyone (including me). What more can you ask?! (by The Daily Prophet)
Trevor David Pinnock CBE (born 16 December 1946) is an English harpsichordist and conductor.
He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert which he helped found and directed from the keyboard for over 30 years in baroque and early classical music. He is a former artistic director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra and founded The Classical Band in New York.
Since his resignation from The English Concert in 2003, Pinnock has continued his career as a conductor, appearing with major orchestras and opera companies around the world. He has also performed and recorded as a harpsichordist in solo and chamber music and conducted and otherwise trained student groups at conservatoires. Trevor Pinnock won a Gramophone Award for his recording of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos with the European Brandenburg Ensemble, an occasional orchestra formed to mark his 60th birthday. (by wikipedia)
Enjoy these Baroque Christmas Concertos, composed in long forgotten centuries !
Personnel:
The English Concert conducted by Trevor Pinnock):
Rupert Bawden (viola)
Mark Bennett (trumpet)
Julia Bishop (violin)
Mark Caudle (violin)
Paula Chateauneuf (theorbo)
Nicola Cleminson (violin)
Lisa Cochrane (viola)
Jane Coe (cello)
Micaela Comberti (violin)
Graham Cracknell (violin)
Richard Earle (oboe)
Miles Golding (violin)
Paul Goodwin (oboe)
Alberto Grazzi (bassoon)
Peter Hanson (violin)
Michael Harrison (trumpet)
Peter Holtslag (recorder)
Fiona Huggett (violin)
Trevor Jones (viola)
Timothy Kraemer (cello)
Catherine Latham (recorder)
Jaap ter Linden (cello)
Amanda MacNamara (bass)
Rebecca Miles (recorder)
Alastair Mitchell (bassoon)
Diane Moore (violin)
Pauline Nobes (violin)
Trevor Pinnock (harpsichord, organ)
Christopher Poffley (violin)
Walter Reiter (violin)
Anthony Robson (oboe)
Jane Rogers (viola)
Clare Salaman (violin)
Simon Standage (violin)
John Toll (organ)
Frances Turner (violin)
Richard Webb (cello)
Lorraine Wood (oboe)
Tracklist:
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704): Nońls sur instruments, H 531, 534:
01. Vous qui desirez sans fin 2.13
02. A la venue de Noel 0.59
03. Or nous dites, Marie 2.22
04. Ou s’en vont ces gais bergers? 1.33
Johann Melchior Molter (1695-1765): Concerto pastorale in G major
05. Larghetto. Allegro e forte (Larghetto) 4.48
06. Aria 2: Lento e sempre piano 2.01
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Concerto for 2 Trumpets in C major, RV 537:
07. Allegro 3.12
08. Largo 1.00
09. Allegro 3.13
Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750):
10. Pastorale in G major from Concerto grosso op. 6 – Andante sostenuto 4.14
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767): Concerto polonois in G major
11. Dolce 2.00
12. Allegro 2.05
13. Largo 2.01
14. Allegro 1.34
Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759): Concerto a due cori in B flat major, HWV 332;
15. Ouverture 1.42
16. Allegro ma non troppo 2.22
17. Allegro 2.27
18. Largo 2.14
19. A tempo ordinario 1.36
20. Alla breve moderato 1.53
21. Minuet 2.47
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713): Concerto grosso in G major, op. 6 no. 8 (“Christmas Concerto”):
22. Vivace Grave. Arcate, sostenuto e come sta 1.31
23. Allegro 2.01
24. Adagio – Allegro – Adagio 3.19
25. Vivace 1.00
26. Allegro 2.05
27. Largo. Pastorale ad libitum 4.07
Archiv Produktion released A Grand Concert of Musick in 1985, and the performances by Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert are a high point in the label’s catalog. This album of concertos by John Stanley, Thomas Arne, Francesco Geminiani, Pieter Hellendaal, and Charles Avison, along with a symphony by William Boyce, provides a quick survey of some of the music that was popular in England in the late Baroque era.
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