Alexander Tamir - Six Grand Marches D819 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Album Tracks 1. Time Stands Still 2. Can She Excuse My Wrongs 3. Awake Sweet Love 4. As By the Streams of Babylon 5. Never Weather Beaten Sail 6. Who Keeps in Compass His Desires 7. Death Rock Me Asleep This Merry Pleasant Spring 8. April Is in My Mistress Face 9. Adieu Sweet Amaryllis 10. In Winter Cold 11. Whereat An Ant 12. Ambitious Love 13. O God, That Guides the Cheerful Sun 14. Fire, Fire! 15. Almond 16. Saraband 17. Almaine 18. The Marigold 19. Air Maestoso 20. Courante 21. Allemande 22. Sarabande 23. Galliard 24. Aweeter Than Roses 25. Theree Parts Upon a Ground 26. Here the Daities Approve 27. Bein Green

Album Tracks 1. Three Marches Militaires D.733 2. Variations on An Original Theme D.813 3. Allegro Lebensstürme D.947 4. Variations on An Original Theme D.968A

The music scene of Paris during the reign of Louis XV could be defined as truly cosmopolitan. The change in aesthetic preferences were already observed in the works written as early as the 1700s, when French composers started to assimilate more and more willingly some elements of Italian style into their pieces. What strikes is the fact that concepts concerning the creation of a mixed style (les goûts rèunis) were primarily developed by instrumental music composers. In contrast to opera, which was naturally connected with the morphology of the language and literature of a given country, compositions lacking the semantics of a text were more suitable for the creation of a universal musical language. The figure of Boismortier can be described as French Telemann. Similarly to his German counterpart, he favored the idea of a mixed style and experimented with unorthodox instrumentation solutions. Boismortier was also one of the first composers that did not have a wealthy patron or protector, living off his works solely. He owed that position to the royal prerogative (1724) to print and sell sheet music, which helped him to avoid the necessity of working as a teacher or seeking employment as an instrumentalist in one of numerous court ensembles. This new recording is the first complete album of Boismortier's suites performed on the recorder solo.