MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

Buy through MusicWeb for £12.49 postage paid World-Wide.

Musicweb Purchase button

 

James NARES (1715-1783)
Eight Harpsichord Setts
Sett No. 1 in G [08:07]
Sett No. 2 in D [07:18]
Sett No. 3 in B flat [09:22]
Sett No. 4 in F [08:26]
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
Suite in d minor (HWV 447)* [0:54]
James NARES
Sett No. 5 in A* [07:51]
Sett No. 6 in E* [07:16]
Sett No. 7 in G* [06:52]
Sett No. 8 in A* [11:10]
Julian Perkins (harpsichord Kirckman, 1764; Shudi, 1740*)
rec. November 2007, Queen's Drawing Room, Kew Palace, London, UK. DDD
AVIE AV2152 [75:58] 

 

Experience Classicsonline


If I am not mistaken the English keyboard music of the post-baroque era is mostly neglected. The most frequently played pieces from that period are probably the sonatas by Thomas Augustine Arne. Single pieces by James Nares have been recorded in the past - for instance some of his Voluntaries - but this is the first disc devoted to his keyboard music.
 

Nares was a chorister in the Chapel Royal and studied under Christoph Pepusch. At the age of 20 he was appointed as organist in York Minster. There he stayed until 1756, when he returned to the Chapel Royal as one of the organists and composers. One year later he became Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal, a position he held until 1780. 

Considering his activities it is not surprising that his oeuvre consists in the main of liturgical and keyboard music. In the latter category he wrote thirteen Voluntaries for organ or harpsichord, and three collections of 'Lessons' (the common word for 'suites'), the last of which has been lost. 

On this disc Julian Perkins presents the first collection of 'Eight Setts of Lessons for the Harpsichord' which was printed in 1747. That Nares was a composer of considerable reputation is demonstrated by the fact that colleagues such as Handel, Boyce and Arne were among the subscribers to this publication. This and the quality of the music on this disc make the judgement of Watkins Shaw in New Grove that Nares had a "pleasant if slender talent for composition" less than credible. 

In the Setts on this disc there are plenty of movements which catch the ear. What makes these compositions especially interesting is the wandering between the baroque and the up-and-coming classical styles. Sometimes these are apparent within one Sett. A good example is Sett No. 3, which begins with a fugue which is followed by a largo and presto, all very much baroque in style, only to end with a more classical 'gavot'. The most striking movement is the larghetto of the Sett No. 5 which contains a kind of harmonic journey, going from A through keys like B flat, G flat, b minor, A flat and c sharp minor back to A. Another interesting Sett is the last, which is strongly influenced by the sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, in particular the first movement (allegro). No wonder Julian Perkins in his programme notes considers Nares a representative of what he calls the 'Anglo-Scarlatti style'. 

As a kind of contrast Perkins plays a suite by Handel, which consists of the usual movements of the baroque suite: allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue. Nares' Setts, on the other hand, almost completely break away from this traditional pattern. Only three Setts consist of dances only, whereas the others have either just one dance to close the Sett, or three movements in the manner of an Italian concerto. 

This repertoire is well worth investigating but the same is true of the harpsichords used here. Both Kirckman and Shudi were of continental origin, but developed into the main builders of keyboard instruments in England. Both instruments reflect attempts to adapt the harpsichord to the growing demand for more dynamic possibilities. Both have pedals which allow some stops to be put into or out of action. These possibilities are used effectively here, for instance in the opening allegro of Sett No. 2.

Julian Perkins deserves nothing but praise for this undertaking. There is much complaining about the demise of the classical recording industry. One of the main reasons is the continuous release of the same repertoire. With enterprising musicians like Julian Perkins one need not fear: it is this kind of creativity which keeps the recording industry alive. It shows there is still a lot to be (re)discovered, and it also shows one shouldn't always believe those musicologists who tell us that what has been buried under the dust of history should stay there because of a lack of quality. In addition Julian Perkins plays very well: imaginative, with great rhythmic precision and fine and well-chosen ornaments. 

Perkins has done us a great favour by recording these fine Lessons by James Nares, by playing them so beautifully and by using these two splendid harpsichords.

Johan van Veen





 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.