The Purcell pieces on this release by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen are comparative rarities. Hearing them, it's hard to understand why this is so; perhaps conductors and editors scanning them in printed form were discouraged by the formulaic doggerel text offerings to King James II in this Royal Welcome Music. But the young Purcell's response to them was sparkling and perhaps a little subversive: the booklet notes that the two Welcome Songs contain long stretches of instrumental music that appear to be there for the ...
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The Purcell pieces on this release by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen are comparative rarities. Hearing them, it's hard to understand why this is so; perhaps conductors and editors scanning them in printed form were discouraged by the formulaic doggerel text offerings to King James II in this Royal Welcome Music. But the young Purcell's response to them was sparkling and perhaps a little subversive: the booklet notes that the two Welcome Songs contain long stretches of instrumental music that appear to be there for the benefit of the players. Those players would have originally included 24 strings; the ensemble was modeled directly on the Vingt-Quatre Violons du Roy at the French court. Here we get an underpowered 12 players, with Christophers offering the justification that the ratio of instrumentalists to singers remains the same. Some of the most interesting pieces, though, are those that fill out the album, where this issue is not relevant. These crackle with progressive tendencies. There...
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