Hyperion Records | Boyce: Trio Sonatas

Brook Green Fair by Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827)
Reproduced by permission of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Crown Copyright

CDA67151/2
Archive Service Only

Buy? £27.98 (Archive Service)

Recording details: October 1995
St Paul's Church, New Southgate, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: September 1996
Total duration: 120 minutes 11 seconds

'The works, large and small, have an air of sweet reasonableness. The fugues are warmly greeted but never aggressively attacked; the string tone in the slow movements is very appealing, sweet and well blended. The two solo violins carry on an urbane and charming dialogue, their voices twining in and out of each other like those of a long-married couple who can anticipate what the other will say. In the final Gigues everyone lets their hair down for an end-of-concerto romp. Attractive music performed with skill' (BBC Music Magazine)

'Yet another treasurable document of England's musical heritage' (Gramophone)

The English Orpheus

William Boyce (1711-1779)

Trio Sonatas

The Parley of Instruments, Peter Holman (conductor)

		Trio Sonata No 1 in A minor
CD1	1	Movement 1: Largo [1'25] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	2	Movement 2: Fuga. Allegro [1'43] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	3	Movement 3: Allegro ma non troppo [2'32] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
		Trio Sonata No 2 in F major
	4	Movement 1: Andante vivace [4'56]
	5	Movement 2: Adagio [0'38]
	6	Movement 3: Allegro [2'04]
	7	Movement 4: Allegro ma non troppo. Giga [1'31]
		Trio Sonata No 3 in A major
	8	Movement 1: Largo [1'17] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	9	Movement 2: Fuga. Allegro assai [1'43] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	10	Movement 3: Adagio [1'09] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	11	Movement 4: Tempo di minuetto [3'07] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
		Trio Sonata No 4 in G minor
	12	Movement 1: Gratioso [2'53]
	13	Movement 2: March. Grave [2'46]
	14	Movement 3: Tempo di gavotta [1'57]
		Trio Sonata No 5 in D major
	15	Movement 1: Allegro [2'09] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	16	Movement 2: Largo [1'57] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	17	Movement 3: Fuga. Allegro assai [2'45] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
		Trio Sonata No 6 in B flat major
	18	Movement 1: Adagio [1'34]
	19	Movement 2: Vivace. Allemanda [2'11]
	20	Movement 3: Adagio [0'36]
	21	Movement 4: Affettuoso [2'12]
		Trio Sonata No 7 in D minor
	22	Movement 1: Andante [3'16] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	23	Movement 2: Figa. Allegro [1'57] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	24	Movement 3: Adagio [0'31] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	25	Movement 4: Allegro. Giga [1'59] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
		Trio Sonata No 8 in E flat major
	26	Movement 1: Largo [3'46] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	27	Movement 2: Allegro. Allemanda [1'59] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	28	Movement 3: Siciliana [1'12] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	29	Movement 4: Tempo di minuetto. Allegro [1'59] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
		Trio Sonata No 9 in C major
CD2	1	Movement 1: Adagio ad libitum [1'56] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	2	Movement 2: Fuga. Allegro [2'10] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	3	Movement 3: Canone. Grave [1'30] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	4	Movement 4: Spirituoso [2'05] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
		Trio Sonata No 10 in E minor
	5	Movement 1: Adagio [1'41]
	6	Movement 2: Allegro [2'20]
	7	Movement 3: Largo [2'11]
	8	Movement 4: Tempo di minuetto. Largo [1'41]
		Trio Sonata No 11 in C minor
	9	Movement 1: Adagio [1'07] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	10	Movement 2: Fuga. Allegro [2'08] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	11	Movement 3: Affettuoso. Hornpipe [2'24] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	12	Movement 4: Allegro. Giga [2'02] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
		Trio Sonata No 12 in G major
	13	Movement 1: Moderato [3'05]
	14	Movement 2: Tempo di gavotta [1'37]
	15	Movement 3: Dolce. Minuetto – Tempo di gavotta [2'58]
		Trio Sonata No 13 in A minor
	16	Movement 1: Adagio. Preludio [1'29] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	17	Movement 2: Vivace. Fuga [2'03] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	18	Movement 3: Largo [1'06] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	19	Movement 4: Giga. Allegro [1'42] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	20	Movement 5: Minuetto. Allegro [1'11] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
		Trio Sonata No 14 in F major
	21	Movement 1: Largo [3'02]
	22	Movement 2: Vivace [2'11]
	23	Movement 3: Grave [1'29]
	24	Movement 4: Gavotta. Allegro [1'52]
		Trio Sonata No 15 in D major
	25	Movement 1: Largo andante. Allemanda [2'57] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	26	Movement 2: Vivace. Corrente [2'14] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	27	Movement 3: Adagio. Sarabanda [3'18] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	28	Movement 4: Gavotta. Allegro [2'20] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra
	29	Movement 5: Minuetto [2'38] The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra

The music of William Boyce has always retained a special place in the English repertory, it being written of him that, 'there is an original and sterling merit in his productions, founded as much on the study of our own old masters, as on the best models of other countries' (Burney).

This recording is of the Twelve Sonatas for Two Violins with a Bass for the Violoncello or Harpsicord, published in 1747, and three unpublished Trio Sonatas newly edited from a manuscript in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. These particularly attractive works boast a wide range of stylistic features and forms and for many years held centre-stage in England as masterpieces in the genre. The performances are divided between The Parley of Instruments Baroque Orchestra and the one-to-a-part Parley of Instruments, so ensuring over two hours of varied and inspiring listening.