Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA67359

Sonata in E minor, Op 10 No 17

composer
1673

The Parley of Instruments
Recording details: July 2002
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: March 2003
Total duration: 5 minutes 15 seconds
 

Reviews

‘Beautifully lyrical trumpet-playing’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Fascinating … Crispian Steele-Perkins and Alison Balsom play with an assured virtuosity’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘It comes as no surprise to have a well researched, well presented and beautifully played issue from this team of artists and recording company. The trumpeters, representing the pioneering and the newest generations of players, are well matched and sparkling in their duets and share the solo works equally. It scarcely needs it, but this gets the warmest of recommendations’ (Early Music Review)

‘Soloists Crispian Steele-Perkins and Alison Balsom play with utmost delicacy and control’ (Early Music Today)

‘Exemplary performances … the disc as a whole is not only extremely enjoyable in its own right, but is of value for illuminating a major development in the history of instrumental music’ (Goldberg)

‘Steele-Perkins and Balsom play throughout this recording as robustly and as sensitively as one could wish … buy this disc’ (Early Music)
The sonatas by Legrenzi and Scarlatti are densely contrapuntal, though they are quite different in style. Legrenzi was working in Venice in 1673, when he published his Op 10, and dedicated the collection to the Austrian emperor Leopold I, which is presumably why it includes two sonatas for four viols and continuo. Viols were largely obsolete in Italy at the time, but were still cultivated a good deal in Austria. This is probably why the sonata recorded here was printed in a double-clef format, allowing it to be played in C minor on viols and in E minor by a string quartet. In the work Legrenzi achieves a remarkable synthesis between the contrapuntal idiom of the Renaissance and the chromatic harmony of his own time.

from notes by Peter Holman © 2003

Les Sonates de Legrenzi et de Scarlatti dévoilent un contrepoint dense quoique d’un style assez différent. Legrenzi travaillait à Venise en 1673 lorsqu’il fit paraître son recueil Opus 10 dédié à l’empereur d’Autriche Léopold I, ce qui explique probablement pourquoi il incorpora deux sonates pour quatre violes et continuo. Si, à cette époque, les violes étaient tombées en désuétude en Italie, elles étaient encore fort prisées en Autriche. C’est probablement pourquoi la sonate présentement enregistrée fut imprimée dans un format incorporant deux clés, ce qui permettait de la jouer en ut mineur sur des violes et en mi mineur sur un quatuor à cordes. Avec cette page, Legrenzi parvient à une synthèse remarquable entre l’idiome contrapuntique de la Renaissance et l’harmonie chromatique de son époque.

extrait des notes rédigées par Peter Holman © 2003
Français: Isabelle Battioni

Die Sonaten von Legrenzi und Scarlatti sind ebenfalls kontrapunktisch dicht, jedoch vom Stil her ganz anders. Legrenzi war 1673, als er sein op. 10 herausgab, in Venedig tätig. Die Sammlung ist dem österreichischen Kaiser Leopold I. gewidmet, was wohl auch der Grund dafür ist, dass darin zwei Sonaten für vier Gamben und Continuo enthalten sind. In Italien war man um jene Zeit so gut wie ganz vom Gambenspiel abgekommen, doch in Österreich wurde es nach wie vor gepflegt. Wahrscheinlich ist die vorliegende Sonate deshalb in doppelter Schlüsselung abgedruckt, so dass sie sowohl in c-Moll auf Gamben als auch in e-Moll von einem Streichquartett gespielt werden kann. In diesem Werk gelingt Legrenzi eine bemerkenswerte Synthese zwischem dem kontrapunktischen Idiom der Renaissance und der chromatischen Harmonik seiner eigenen Zeit.

aus dem Begleittext von Peter Holman © 2003
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...