Purcell - Royal Welcome Songs for King Charles II - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Henrik Strindberg - Within Trees [COMPACT DISCS] date 09/21/2004

Despite being written for the celebration of royal occasions, Purcell's Royal Welcome Songs were penned during a time of immense disillusionment with the monarchy. Filled with humour as well as an ironic detachment from the politics of the time, Ye tuneful muses and Sound the trumpet fizz with the dramatic energy which characterized his later operas and mark a crucial turning point in Purcell's career. This programme showcases the variety and diversity of Purcell's writing, opening with the Chacony in G minor, which is among the great glories of music for strings, and including When on my sick bed I languish- an amazingly impassioned piece in which he bares his soul... quintessential Purcell! InchIt's a delicious 72 minutes of Restoration wit and lyrical charm, performed gracefully by Harry Christophers 'The Sixteen.'Inch (The Times on Purcell The Indian Queen) InchA performance like this shows dimensions of Purcell's genius that are all to rarely heard on disc.Inch (Gramophone on Purcell The Fairy Queen)

On this , Harry Christophers and The Sixteen continue their exploration of Purcell's stunning music written for royal occasions on the third album in their acclaimed series. King Charles II liked to project a strong, stable, divinely legitimated image. Whilst that image had no basis in reality, the scale of his deception and financial skulduggery did not emerge until 19th-century historians discovered secret treaty documents between Charles and King Louis XIV of France. Purcell had no idea of course, and so all of the music on this album celebrates the political triumphs that he and his colleagues thought they had witnessed. It includes the quite brilliant Welcome Songs 'Welcome to all the pleasures' (with it's superb six-part fanfares to St Cecilia in the final chorus) and 'From hardy climes'.