PORTRAIT OF AN ENGLISH HARPSICHORD – Steven Devine

£10.00

Steven Devine plays a wonderful selection of pieces on a 1756 Kirckman Harpsichord, each specifically chosen to highlight the tonal characteristics of this amazing instrument. Devine is a wonderfully lively player, and we really appreciate that he chose music by composers who were appreciated in their lifetime, but who are now largely neglected. A deeply charming album.” (Magnatune.com)

SKU: FPCD004 Categories: , Tags: , , , , , , ,

Description

Track List:

Lesson 1 in G Major – James Nares



Sonata Op 5 No 6 in C Minor – Johann Christian Bach



Sonata No 5 in G Major – Thomas Gladwin


Sonata No 1 in F Major – Thomas Arne



Sonata No 4 in C Minor – Joseph Kelway




Sonata No 2 in A Major – Joseph Gibbs




Suite No 5 in E Major – George Frederick Handel





“Steven Devine has long been known to me through Richard Burnett’s Finchcocks Musical Museum in Kent, a visitor-friendly collection of which he has been Assistant Curator since 1996 and where concerts are held regularly. This valuable compilation lets one hear music of the period by English and adopted English composers; for many, the neames of J C Bach, Handel and Arne may be the only ones familiar. The music collected here is mostly from mid-18th C, and it is all attractive and played with sensitivity in autoritative style by Steven Devine, one of the best scholar-harpsichordists around. The harpsichord in question is a fine Kirckmann of 1756, prepared to perfection (with “raven and organic turkey quills”) by Bill Dow. Well recorded at Finchcocks in 2005, it will grace anyone’s collection without duplicating music they are likely to have already, save for Handel’s ever-popular Suite No. 5, the one with ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’.  The CD is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of a lovely violin sonata by Joseph Gibbs (published 1746), played in ideal baroque style by Catherine Martin on a contemporary Milanese violin made the previous year. It is also interesting to have her providing a simpler accompaniment to the harpsichord from Gladwin’s Lessons for the Harpsichord & Violin. A lovely CD produced to highest standards, with full, elegant documentation; warmly recommended.” Peter Grahame Woolf  – Musical Pointers

 

Additional Info

Weight 0.13 kg
Dimensions 14 × 12.4 × 1 cm

Reviews

  1. Steven Devine

    “Steven Devine has long been known to me through Richard Burnett’s Finchcocks Musical Museum in Kent, a visitor-friendly collection of which he has been Assistant Curator since 1996 and where concerts are held regularly. This valuable compilation lets one hear music of the period by English and adopted English composers; for many, the neames of J C Bach, Handel and Arne may be the only ones familiar. The music collected here is mostly from mid-18th C, and it is all attractive and played with sensitivity in autoritative style by Steven Devine, one of the best scholar-harpsichordists around. The harpsichord in question is a fine Kirckmann of 1756, prepared to perfection (with “raven and organic turkey quills”) by Bill Dow. Well recorded at Finchcocks in 2005, it will grace anyone’s collection without duplicating music they are likely to have already, save for Handel’s ever-popular Suite No. 5, the one with ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’. The CD is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of a lovely violin sonata by Joseph Gibbs (published 1746), played in ideal baroque style by Catherine Martin on a contemporary Milanese violin made the previous year. It is also interesting to have her providing a simpler accompaniment to the harpsichord from Gladwin’s Lessons for the Harpsichord & Violin. A lovely CD produced to highest standards, with full, elegant documentation; warmly recommended.” Peter Grahame Woolf – Musical Pointers

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