The Mad Lover
£16.10
Currently out of stock at the UK suppliers. Available to order, but is likely to take longer than usual to despatch
Despatch Information
This despatch estimate is based on information from both our own stock and the UK supplier's stock.
If ordering multiple items, we will aim to send everything together so the longest despatch estimate will apply to the complete order.
If you would rather receive certain items more quickly, please place them on a separate order.
If any unexpected delays occur, we will keep you informed of progress via email and not allow other items on the order to be held up.
If you would prefer to receive everything together regardless of any delay, please let us know via email.
Pre-orders will be despatched as close as possible to the release date.
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Cat No: HMM902305
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Chamber
Release Date: 20th November 2020
Contents
Works
A new division upon the ground bass of 'John come and kiss me'Sonata quinta in E minor
Sonata undecima in G minor
The Mad Lover
Sarabanda amorosa
Suite in G major
Variations on La Folia (Divisions on a Ground)
Fantasia in A minor
Fantasia in C minor
Sonatas or Solos (6), three for a violin and three for the flute
Artists
Theotime Langlois de Swarte (violin)Thomas Dunford (lute)
Works
A new division upon the ground bass of 'John come and kiss me'Sonata quinta in E minor
Sonata undecima in G minor
The Mad Lover
Sarabanda amorosa
Suite in G major
Variations on La Folia (Divisions on a Ground)
Fantasia in A minor
Fantasia in C minor
Sonatas or Solos (6), three for a violin and three for the flute
Artists
Theotime Langlois de Swarte (violin)Thomas Dunford (lute)
About
Sound/Video
Paused
-
1John Eccles: Ground from ‘The Mad Lover’ Suite (Aire V)
-
2Daniel Purcell: Sonata sesta (Six Sonatas or Solos, 1698): 1. Adagio
-
3Daniel Purcell: Sonata sesta (Six Sonatas or Solos, 1698): 2. Allegro
-
4Daniel Purcell: Sonata sesta (Six Sonatas or Solos, 1698): 3. Adagio
-
5Daniel Purcell: Sonata sesta (Six Sonatas or Solos, 1698): 4. Allegro
-
6Improvisation for solo lute
-
7Nicola Matteis: Variations on La Folia (Divisions on a Ground)
-
8Young Nicola Matteis: Fantasia in A minor
-
9Nicola Matteis: Sarabanda amorosa (Suite in A minor)
-
10Nicola Matteis: Diverse bizzarie sopra la vecchia sarabanda o pur Ciaccona (Suite in C major)
-
11Henry Purcell: Prelude in G minor, Z773
-
12Henry Eccles: Sonata undecima in G minor: 1. Grave
-
13Henry Eccles: Sonata undecima in G minor: 2. Corrente
-
14Henry Eccles: Sonata undecima in G minor: 3. Adagio
-
15Henry Eccles: Sonata undecima in G minor: 4. Vivace
-
16Nicola Matteis: Suite in G major: 1. Preludio
-
17Nicola Matteis: Suite in G major: 2. Musica/Grave
-
18Nicola Matteis: Suite in G major: 3. Sarabanda
-
19Nicola Matteis: Suite in G major: 4. Aria Burlesca
-
20Nicola Matteis: Suite in G major: 5. Capriccio
-
21Nicola Matteis: Suite in G major: 6. Giga Al Genio Turcheso
-
22Henry Eccles: Sonata quinta in E minor: 1. Andante
-
23Henry Eccles: Sonata quinta in E minor: 2. Corrente
-
24Henry Eccles: Sonata quinta in E minor: 3. Largo
-
25Henry Eccles: Sonata quinta in E minor: 4. Presto
-
26Young Nicola Matteis: Fantasia in C minor ‘con discretione’
-
27Henry Eccles: A new division upon the ground bass of ‘John come and kiss me’
-
28John Eccles: Ground from ‘The Mad Lover’ Suite (Aire III)
Europadisc Review
Entitled 'The Mad Lover', it is inspired in part by the incidental music composed by John Eccles (c. 1668-1735) for a 1695 revival of John Fletcher's eponymous comedy, as expanded by Peter Motteux. Its star, the famous actress Anne Bracegirdle, not only had a beauty and talent that drove many of her admirers to ‘madness’, but excelled at playing characters with troubled minds, inspiring in turn a number of 'mad scenes'. The two Grounds (quasi improvisations over a repeated bass line) by John Eccles that frame the disc are typical of the obsessively inward-looking mood that finds its outlet in so much of the music of this period. The first in particular sets the tone of deep introspection, with violin and lute together creating that atmosphere of undemonstrative directness which Langlois de Swart highlights in his illuminating introductory commentary. It's a tone that spills over into a Sonata by Daniel Purcell (c.1664-1717), cousin of the more famous Henry, and exhibiting the same gift for squeezing every bit of expressiveness out of the slow movements, while demonstrating that such exquisite reflectiveness is not necessarily incompatible with faster movements of real verve. The subtle dynamic gradations possible on Dunford's lute, as partnered with the almost vocal qualities of Langlois de Swart's 1665 Jacob Stainer violin, are heard here to beguiling effect.
A wistful lute improvisation provides a bridge to the ‘Folia’ Variations by violin virtuoso Nicola Matteis (c. 1650-c. 1714), putting his own distinctive stamp on this famous 'pop' tune. Matteis's son, the 'Young Matteis' was himself a violin prodigy, and his solo Fantasia in A minor is a mesmerising exercise in string-crossing that deserves far greater exposure, worthy to set beside the works of Biber and JS Bach, and delivered here with wonderfully whispered tones and rhythmic pliancy, as if the player is taking the listener into his (and the composer’s) confidence. The older Nicola's 'Diverse bizzarie' on a well-known Sarabande/Chaconne are particularly engrossing for their striking range of moods.
A G minor Sonata by John Eccles's brother Henry (c. 1680-c. 1740) 'delivered quite a thunderbolt' when discovered by these performers; and it matters not a jot that its bucolic second-movement Corrente (some nice strumming effects from Dunford here) was plagiarised from Francesco Bonporti, for the whole sequence is completely compelling. The Suite in G major by the elder Matteis seems to be a deliberate throwing down of the gauntlet to English violinists, with a mood of unaffected contentment permeating even the more wistful episodes of the Sarabanda, and finding a toe-tapping peroration in the concluding 'Turkish Gigue'.
The younger Matteis's C minor Fantasia is another miniature masterpiece for solo violin, 'one of the finest pieces for solo violin from the Baroque period' according to Jonathan Keates's booklet notes, and listening to this performance you may well find yourself in agreement: it matches invention, technical demands and expressive power in a magical balance. Langlois de Swarte's beautifully inflected playing matches it every step of the way.
Before the closing 'Mad Lover' Ground comes Henry Eccles's 'New Division' on the popular tune 'John come and kiss me', another illustration of how the worlds of 'high' and 'low' music intersected to great fruitfulness in this period, with references to musical-box charm and gentle hornpipe swagger. As throughout this disc, the intimacy of the two players is perfectly caught by engineer Hugues Deschaux, and this is an album that, for all its deep (and unexpectedly topical) introspection, still manages to wear a smile in an enigmatically English manner.
Error on this page? Let us know here
Need more information on this product? Click here