BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
William BOYCE (1711-1779)
Trio Sonatas (1747)
Trio Sonata No. 1 in A minor ¹[5:45]
Trio Sonata No. 2 in F major [9:14]
Trio Sonata No. 3 in A major ¹ [7:21]
Trio Sonata No. 4 in G minor [7:41]
Trio Sonata No. 5 in D major ¹ [6:56]
Trio Sonata No. 6 in B flat major [6:38]
Trio Sonata No. 7 in D minor ¹ [7:48]
Trio Sonata No. 8 in E flat major ¹ [9:01]
Trio Sonata No. 9 in C major ¹ [7:46]
Trio Sonata No. 10 in E minor [7:58]
Trio Sonata No. 11 in C minor ¹ [7:46]
Trio Sonata No. 12 in G major [7:45]
Trio Sonata No. 13 in A minor ¹ [7:36]
Trio Sonata No. 14 in F major [8:39]
Trio Sonata No. 15 in D major ¹ [13:32]
The Parley of Instruments (quartet or orchestra¹)/Peter Holman
rec. October 1995, no location specified
HYPERION DYAD CDD22063 [61:07 + 61:51]
Fifteen years on these highly persuasive performances still bring a terrific
amount of charm and easygoing lyricism to the table. True, you can seek an
alternative, such as that provided by Simon Standage and Collegium Musicum
90 (Chaconne CHAN0648) whose one to a part performances are consistent and
different to the varied quartet and orchestral expansions to be heard here
- but I don’t think you will necessarily find Standage’s performances
the more charming, though they do tend to be more spun out and superficially
expressive.
The Parley of Instruments and Peter Holman preferred, back in October 1995,
to alternate quartet and orchestral performances of the Trio sonatas. There
is some evidence that not only were the Trio sonatas performed orchestrally
but that some at least were devised for larger forces. Note too that Hyperion
includes the three sonatas, numbered 13-15, that survive in manuscript, though
not in Boyce’s hand, at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and were
copied by Boyce’s pupil Samuel Wesley. They were not included in the
1747 publication of the Sonatas. Standage doesn’t include them, sticking
to the canonic twelve.
Seemingly divided between odd and even sonatas into putative orchestral and
quartet forces these performances work very well indeed. All the fugues for
instance fall in the odd numbered sonatas and are played orchestrally, the
bulk of the virtuoso writing falling in the even (quartet) sonatas. If one
has reservations about this then one had better acquire the Standage.
One listens with great enjoyment, however this particular cookie is crumbled.
The splendidly projected (orchestral) fugue in No.1 is adeptly projected,
its succeeding finale vibrant, effortlessly melodic. Boyce also confounds
expectations as to ordering of movements. Within a broadly Sonata da Chiesa
and da Camera schema he shuffles movements about. In No.2 for instance an
Andante vivace is followed by a very brief Adagio and then by
two fast movements, the concluding one a non troppo Gigue. Things are
kept alive, routine is kept at bay, and the sonatas don’t fall into
predictable patterns. The opening of the Third sonata is especially lovely;
I suggest you try this first to see if it floats your melodic boat. It’s
played orchestrally with perfectly judged weight, and is a high example of
Holman and the Parley’s acute sensitivity for texture and phraseology.
But this is not to underestimate the grave March of No.4, which receives the
same scrupulously generous level of characterisation as do all these many
movements through the fifteen sonatas. Sample therefore the Affetuoso
finale of No.6 or the noble seriousness of the Canone of No.9. Note
too now well balanced are upper and lower strings in the Largo of No.10.
Boyce can turn out a theatrical hornpipe too, rather better indeed than his
younger theatrical contemporary Samuel Arnold, whose Polly has just
been recorded and contains a plethora of such things. The fluting fiddle in
the opening of No.13 is full of brio. If these uncollected sonatas are the
product of Boyce’s youthful infatuation with Corelli then they are nevertheless
full of good things - vigour, masculinity, and refined terpsichorean sensitivity.
Given the forgoing this idiomatically played twofer makes renewed demands
on lovers of Boyce’s very individual and engaging works.
Jonathan Woolf
This idiomatically played twofer makes renewed demands on lovers of Boyce’s
very individual and engaging works.