This book, that slips
so handily into your jacket pocket,
is essentially an alternative format
to the book and 2 CD format
of
Naxos 8.558160-61
already reviewed on this
site. The excerpt content of the 2
CDs is reiterated at the foot of this
review. These excerpts are accessed
via the Naxos web site. The book gives
access and track references at the
appropriate points in the narrative.
The advantage, of course, is space-saving
- that you don’t have to keep the
2CDs yet all the excerpts are two
or three computer clicks away - after
you have entered the necessary security
codes at the first visit to the site.
The downside is that many computers
will not have the facility for super
hi-fi quality that the CD format
will allow
but having said that my
Bose headphones delivered quality
enough sound from the CD-standard
excerpts on the Naxos site.
The book is very
good value. As other MusicWeb reviewers
have mentioned, it packs a tremendous
amount of information into its 160
pages (with index). The main narrative
carries the story forward from the
beginnings of the Baroque era (in
about 1600) to its close (around 1750)
taking in all the major composers
from each major European country (Germany,
France, Italy, England and the Netherlands).
On the way we learn the meaning of
some fundamental terms such as da
capo and how, why and when the
system of major and minor keys emerged.
There is also a section on how the
modern violin developed and how Napoleon
defaced a priceless Stradivari cello.
Also included, from pages 110 to 141,
is a useful Timeline feature that
has alongside milestone years, the
music composed and the general history
and the art, architecture and literature
of those years. An alphabetical list
of Baroque composers is also included
and a map of Europe showing the birthplaces
of the Baroque composers. There is
also a glossary of musical terms and
biographical details about the book’s
author harpsichordist and music book
author, Clive Unger-Hamilton.
A first class concept
and a handy book for musicians and
music lovers to carry around in their
pockets.
Ian Lace
The music on the
site:
Gregorio ALLEGRI (1582 - 1652)
Misereri Mei
Johan Sebastian BACH (1685 - 1750)
Violin Sonata No. 1: 1st
Movement; Cantata Jauchzet Gott in
allen Landen, BWV 51: Aria ‘Jauchzet
Gott in allen Landen’; Prelude from
Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV
550; Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, BWV
1047: 3rd Movement; Prelude
and Fugue in G minor BWV 861 from
‘The Well-tempered Clavier’; Wedding
Cantata, BWV 202: Aria ‘Sich uben
im Lieben’; St. Matthew Passion, BWV
244: Wir setzen uns mit Tranen nieder;
Harpsichord concerto in F minor, BWV
1056: 2nd Movement
Dietrich BUXTEHUDE (1637 - 1707)
Membra Jesu Nostri: 3rd
movement.
Pierre CERTON (d. 1572) La,
la, la, je ne l’ose dire
Marc-Antoine CHARPENTIER (1643
- 1704) Noel: Un flambeau, Janette,
Isabelle
Arcangelo CORELLI (1653 - 1713)
Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op.
6 No. 8 ‘Christmas Concerto’: Pastorale
Francois COUPERIN (1668 - 1733)
Les Sentiments; La Manon
Giovanni GABRIELI (1554 - 1612)
Sonata pian’e forte, alla quarta
bassa, a 8
George Frideric HANDEL (1685 -
1759) Concerto Grosso in B minor:
3rd Movement; Rinaldo:
‘Lascia ch’io pianga’; Acis and Galatea:
‘O Ruddier than the Cherry’; Harpsichord
Suite No. 7 in G minor, HWV 432: Passacaille;
Messiah: ‘For unto us a child is born’;
Concerto Grosso in D minor, Op. 6
No. 10: 6th Movement
William LAWES (1602 - 1645) Royal
Consort in D major: Ecco;
Jean-Baptise LULLY (1632 - 1687)
Benedictus: 1st movement
Claudio MONTEVERDI (1567 - 1643)
Vespers of the Blessed Virgin:
Domine ad adiuvandum
Johann PACHELBEL (1653 - 1706)
Toccata in C major
Henry PURCELL (1659 - 1695) Hear
my prayer, O Lord; Dido and Aeneas:
Dido’s Lament
Jean-Philippe RAMEAU (1683 - 1764)
Les Boreades: Gavotte pour les
Fleures et les Zéphires; Suite
in E minor-major: Musette en rondeau,
Tambouring
Alessandro SCARLATTI (1660 - 1725)
Cantata pastorale per la nascita
di Nostro Signore: Aria: L’Autor d’ogni
mio bene
Domenico SCARLATTI (1685 - 1757)
Sonata in D minor, K120; Sonata
in E major K. 380; Sonata in D major,
K 96
Heinrich SCHUTZ (1585 - 1672) Der
Psalm 100, SWV 36
Jan Pieterszoon SWEELINCK (1562
- 1621) Variations on ‘Mein junges
Leben hat ein End’
Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681 -
1767) Overture in D major: Réjouissance
Antonio VIVALDI (1678 - 1741) Flute
Concerto in D Maor, Op. 10 No. 3 ‘Il
gardellino’: 1st Movement,
Allegro; Beatus Vir RV 597
Kym Amps (soprano)
David van Asch (bass)
Tracy Smith Bessette (soprano)
Maya Boog (soprano)
James David Christie (organ)
Lawrence Cummings (harpsichord)
Lucy van Dael (violin)
Bela Drahos (flute)
Jacob Heringman (theorbo)
Harald Hoeren (harpsichord)
Jeno Jando (piano)
Ingrid Kertesi (soprano)
David Miller (theorbo)
Gilbert Rowland (harpsichord)
Wolfgang Rübsam (organ)
Jurgen Schuster (trumpet)
Christine Stelmacovitch (alto)
Balazs Szokolay (piano)
Friederike Wagner (soprano)
Choir of Radio Svizzera, Lugano
Hungarian Festival Choir
Oxford Camerata/Jeremy Summerly
Oxford Schola Cantorum
Accademia Strumentale Italiana Verona/Diego
Fasolis
Aradia Ensemble/Kevin Mallon
Camerata Budapest/Laszlo Kovacs
Capella Istropolitana/Jozef Kopelman
Capella Istropolitana/Chrisian Brembeck
Capella Savaria/Mary Terey-Smith
Cologne Chamber Orchestra/Helmut Muller-Bruhl
Failoni Chamber Orchestra, Budapest/Matyas
Antal
Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra/Geza
Oberfrank
Le Concert Spirituel/Herve Niquet
London Symphony Brass/Eric Crees
Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfinia
Northern Chamber Orchestra/Nicholas
Ward
Rose Consort of Viols
Scholars Baroque Ensemble
Sonatori de al Gioiosa Marca, Treviso
Westra Aros Pipers/Bertil Farnlor
Recording dates and locations not
given
Note from Naxos
With each Life & Music biography
comes access to a dedicated website
for that composer, containing hours
of extra music to listen to. The works
featured on the CDs may be enjoyed in
full on the website (so in the case
of Mahler, there are seven symphonies
and four major vocal works!) plus many
pieces by contemporaries of the composer.
There is also a substantial timeline
showing the composer’s life beside
concurrent events in arts, literature
and history.
These websites, together with
the book and CDs, make for an unrivalled
multimedia approach the biographical
format and a uniquely rounded portrait
of each composer.
