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

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS
Download: Classicsonline

 

The Division Flute
[Part 1]
Reading's Ground [04:57]
Paul's Steeple, a division on a Ground [04:31]
Faronells Ground [02:41]
Old Simon the King [02:25]
Tollet's Ground [07:34]
Green sleeves to a Ground [03:40]
Johney Cock thy Beavor [03:04]
A Division on a Ground [02:14]
A Division on a Ground by Mr Eccles [02:07]
A Division on a Ground by Mr Finger [03:54]
A Division on a Ground by Mr Banister [02:09]
[Part 2]
A Ground by Mr Finger [03:34]
A Division to a Ground by Mr Solomon Eccles [03:49]
A Division on a Ground [04:04]
A Ground by Mr Solomon Eccles [02:19]
A Division on a Ground [02:19]
An Italian Ground [02:31]
Emma Murphy (recorder); William Lyons (recorder; dulcian); Emilia Benjamin (viola da gamba); Richard Campbell (viola da gamba; guitar); David Miller (theorbo; guitar); Steven Devine (harpsichord)
rec. January, October 2006, Phoenix Sound, Pinewood Studios, UK. DDD
SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD125 [57:17]
Experience Classicsonline

The genre represented on this disc was very popular in England from the 16th to the early decades of the 18th century. It was by no means an exclusively English genre. The principle of writing variations on a certain melody over a 'basso ostinato' - a repeated bass pattern - developed simultaneously and largely independently in Italy, Spain and England during the 16th century. It was the subject of treatises, the most famous of which is 'Trattado de glosas' (1553) by the Spanish viol virtuoso Diego Ortiz.
 
In England this genre remained popular well into the 18th century. This is reflected in publications like Christopher Simpson's 'The Division Viol or the Art of Playing Ex tempore upon a Ground' (1659) and 'The Division Violin', printed in 1684 by Playford. The latter was followed by further editions until the 1730s. The music here comes from another collection, printed in two volumes from 1706 to 1708 by John Walsh, 'The Division Flute'. It not only bears testimony to the continuing popularity of the genre, but also of the recorder - the instrument for which these pieces were set. In a time when elsewhere - in France, Germany and Italy - the recorder was overshadowed by the transverse flute, it still enjoyed great popularity in England.
 
Perhaps one would think that a whole disc of this kind of music is a bit too much of the same, but there is no need for fear. What is impressive is how much variety there is within this single genre. There are several reasons for this. The first is that there is a lot of difference between the various grounds: the romanesca, the folia, the passacaglia, the passamezzo and the bergamasca. Secondly the thematic material composers used also varies dramatically. Works based on folk tunes or ballads appear alongside more sophisticated pieces by composers who were equally at home in genres like the concerto and the sonata, such as the Moravian-born Gottfried (or Godfrey) Finger.
 
One should not listen to this disc in expectation of deep expression, daring harmony or dramatic contrast. This music was meant to entertain the player(s). That doesn't mean this is simple music: some of the variations are very virtuosic, and this gives some indication of the technical skills of the recorder players in England around 1700. Henry Purcell - himself a composer of divisions on a ground - may have written that "Composing upon a Ground is a very easie thing to do" - it certainly doesn't sound that way.
 
The music isn't just entertaining for the musicians, though, the listeners also should enjoy it. This isn't only because of the quality of the repertoire, but also because of the interpretations. The musicians give very fine performances, with technical precision and great flamboyance and a good sense of rhythmic pulse. There is also a nice variety in the use of instruments: Emma Murphy plays two different recorders - soprano and alto - and the basso continuo is realised with various combinations of theorbo, guitar, viola da gamba and harpsichord.
 
This disc brings just under an hour of entertainment of the highest order.
 
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.