ATMA Classique ACD2 2133

"On The Muse's Isle"

Vocal and instrumental works of Henry Purcell

DANIEL TAYLOR - countertenor / Contré-ténor
DA SONAR:
Chantal Rémillard - Christine Moran
Margaret Little - Susie Napper
Sylvain Bergeron - Réjean Poirer

ACD2 2133

"The Author's extraordinary Talent in all sorts of Musick is sufficiently known, but he was especially admir'd for the Vocal, having a peculiar Genius to express the Energy of English Words, whereby he mov'd the Passions of all his Auditors." By these words, Henry Playford introduced the first volume of his anthology of Purcell's songs, aptly titled Orpheus Britannicus and published in 1698, three years after the composer's untimely death. They still hold true today, for rarely since Purcell has a composer succeeded to distil in music such beauty and emotion from the English language. Along with examples of Purcell's "extraordinary Talent" in instrumental music, this disc contains some of his most remarkable solo vocal pieces in English, for that most angelic of voices, the countertenor.

…

- Jacques-André Houle

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
[ 1.] Fairest Isle, King Arthur, Z.628 4:23
Voice, 2 violins, viola, cello, lute / Voix, 2 violons, alto, violoncelle, luth

[ 2.] Sonata 9 in C minor / en do mineur, Z.798 8:24
2 violins, cello, organ / 2 violons, violoncelle, orgue

[ 3.] Music for a while, Oedipus, Z.583 4:08
Voice, cello, harpsichord / Voix, violoncelle, clavecin

[ 4.] Sonata 3 in A minor / en la mineur, Z.804 7:20
2 violins, cello, lute / 2 violons, violoncelle, luth

[ 5.] Here the deities approve, Welcome to all the pleasures, Z.339 4:13
Voice, 2 violins, viola, viola da gamba, harpsichord, theorbo /
Voix, 2 violons, alto, viole da gambe, clavecin, théorbe

[ 6.] An evening Hymn on a Ground, Z.193 4:55
Voice, viola da gamba, organ / Voix, viole de gambe, orgue

[ 7.] O solitude, my sweetest choice, Z.406 6:00
Voice, viola da gamba, organ, theorbo / Voix, viole da gambe, orgue, théorbe

[ 8.] Sonata 6 in G minor / en sol mineur, Z.807 7:35
2 violins, cello, organ, theorbo / 2 violons, violoncelle, orgue, théorbe

[ 9.] O solitude, my sweetest choice, Z.406 5:36
Voice, lute / Voix, luth

[10.] Sonata 12 in D major / en ré majeur, Z.801 6:22
2 violins, cello, organ / 2 violons, violoncello, orgue

John Blow (1649-1708)
[11.] So ceas'd the rival crew, An ode on the Death of MrHenry Purcell 3:21
Voice, theorbo / Voix, théorbe

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