RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Charles AVISON (1709-1770)
Six Sonatas for the Harpsichord and accompaniments for two violins and violoncello
Op.5 [65:33]
Six Sonatas for the Harpsichord and accompaniments for two violins and violoncello
Op.7 [46:36]
Gary Cooper (harpsichord); Pavlo Beznosiuk and Caroline Balding (violins);
Robin Michael (cello)
rec. April 2008, St George’s Church, Chesterfield, Cambridge
DIVINE ART DDA 21215 [65:33 + 46:36]
With each new release of Charles Avison’s music something is becoming
clearer; his standing as a composer is significantly higher than might be
supposed. Partly this is historical; he composed when the country’s
music-making was dominated by Handel, and partly geographical, since he lived
in Newcastle. It’s true that his position as a composer was unchallenged
in the North-East, but that cut little ice with the Metropolitan elite in
London, and the paucity of recordings, until very recently, reflected his
‘backwater’ status.
Fortunately recordings such as this and others have begun to show just how
adaptable, personable, imaginative and clever is his writing. His accompanied
keyboard sonatas are in three sets. Op.5 was published in 1756, followed by
op.7 in 1760 and op.8 four years later. In this two disc set we hear opp.
5 and 7. Avison was an eloquent admirer of his contemporaries and forebears,
taking pains in his advertisement for the op.8 set to cite Scarlatti, Rameau,
Geminiani and C.P.E. Bach by name. His opinion of Handel was not unmixed.
The genesis for this kind of work was a compound of Corellian procedure and
Rameau’s 1741 Pièces de Clavecin. The cleverness of Avison lies
in his accommodation of both forms, and in his ability successfully to utilise
them to his own devices. The sonatas were not intended for public performance,
but rather for ‘private amusement’. The keyboard part is complete
in and of itself (so an amateur could play the part on his own), the string
writing acting as a supporting fabric to the harpsichord. There are no solo
flourishes from the strings.
The op. 5 set consists of six multi-movement works, some four, some two, and
one in three movements. All are compact and full of lively music making. Maybe
there are hints of a Scotch Snap in the opening of the First, in G major.
What’s undeniable is the fecundity of invention, the warm textures of
the Minuet, the lightly contoured cello drone in the Allegretto finale and
ensuing folkloric inflexions. Not only is Avison’s writing broad-minded
and full of thematic interest, but the performances by Gary Cooper and his
eminent cohorts fully worthy of it; the combination is outstanding in every
way. Avison has a real sense of character and sometimes quirkiness. The second
movement of the two-movement second sonata is the more unpredictable and original
and keeps one on one’s aural toes throughout. It’s very cleverly
composed, very fluid thematically, and passing Handelian moments - or moments
that seem Handelian maybe in retrospect - only add to the mélange.
The Andante of the Third has the lyric qualities of a John Stanley, whilst
the Siciliana of the Fourth flows as sweetly as a fresh stream. The performers
all catch the brisk articulation of the following Aria - spiritoso,
as marked.
In 1760 the op.7 collection was published. Apart from the fifth, which is
in three movements, all the others are written in two. The presto opening
of the second has an almost operatic intensity, but also compression. There’s
decorative melancholy in the opening of the third whilst the opening of the
fourth is more explicitly expressive, in a way that begs the question as to
whether Avison wrote oratorios? The finale of this sonata is theatrical and
fulsome, the Ciacone of the sixth sprightly and life-enhancing.
Recording quality (first class), performances and music come together in a
wholly splendid way in this disc, one which advances Avison’s cause
still further.
Jonathan Woolf
Recording quality (first class), performances and music come together in a
wholly splendid way in this disc, one which advances Avison’s cause
still further.
Reviews of other Avison recordings on Divine Art
DDA21210 Concerti grosso (after Geminiani) - review
DDA21211 Concerti grosso op. 9, 10 - review
DDA21213 Concerti grosso (after Scarlatti) - review
DDA21214 Sonatas op.8 - review