Various Composers - Musickes Sweetest Joyes - Mieneke Van Der Velden - Channel Classics CCS SA 21204 (2004) Christopher Simpson, Robert Jones, William Corkine Tobias Hume, Matthew Loeke, John Dowland, Nicolas Lanier Musickes Sweetest Joyes - Mieneke Van Der Velden Channel Classics CCS SA 21204 (2004) | Classical | DR12 | 2ch & Mch Hybrid SACD-rip via Cambridge Audio CXU to iso (3.89 GB) | PDF Don't be put off by the precious title; this is a delightful collection of 17th-century English music built around the delicate viola da gamba skills of the Dutch virtuoso Mieneke van der Velden. Mostly oozing a delicious melancholy, but occasionally boasting a spring in its step, here is the best of such composers as John Dowland, Matthew Locke and William Corkine, with songs from Tobias Hume and Nicholas Lanier. Exquisitely played, with as much devotion to detail as technical mastery, here is period music to beguile many a modern moodswing. theguardian.com Like most of Jared Sacks’s productions for his Netherlands-based Channel Classics label, this anthology of 17th-century English music is a delight—on account of well-chosen repertoire, masterful performance, and supremely natural surround sound. (The documentation is to be commended for specifying exactly what recording format is used—5-channel in this case, without recourse to a sub-woofer channel. And just to clarify: the song texts in the informative booklet are printed in their original languages only, the one Italian text thus being left without an English translation.) The title of the album is taken from the text of one of Tobias Hume’s songs, Cease leaden slumber, which ends: “for now my soule delights/in heavenly noyse/of musickes sweetest joyes.” It could be said that “joyes” is a slight misnomer, in the sense that many of the pieces included are distinctly on the melancholy side. But joy is certainly to be experienced in listening to this unfailingly civilized, technically adroit, and often piercingly beautiful music. It is not only the best known among the composers that makes the biggest impression. Certainly the use of repeated notes in the voice part of John Dowland’s Go nightly cares is among the most arresting stylistic touches; but the second of the two sets of Divisions upon a ground by Christopher Simpson offers a combination of eloquence and grace that should commend this relatively obscure composer, born in 1602, to anyone not yet acquainted with his work. Altogether, this recital provides a splendid showcase for the talents of Mieneke van der Velden, who performs with equal fluency and taste on the viola da gamba and the less familiar lyra viol, and she is worthily partnered by her colleagues both instrumental and vocal. The results are sweet indeed. arkivmusic.com This fine recording ought to come with a health warning. If you are feeling cheerful when you start to play it, by the end you will be thoroughly depressed; if in melancholy mood at the outset, an hour later you will be wondering whether life is worth living. It’s not all doom and gloom. Towards the end of the 17th century, consort music was on the way out in England, Purcell’s Fantasias considered the final flowering. However, some years earlier Christopher Simpson was a sufficiently committed advocate of the bass viol to publish The Art of Playing Extempore upon a Ground. The Divisions included here both progress rapidly from a simple statement via a vigorous dotted rhythm to florid writing requiring considerable virtuosity. The Preludes, without continuo, are more rhapsodic in style. The suite by Matthew Locke is taken from a set of Duos written in 1652. Despite being composed during a turbulent period of English history the contrapuntal Fantazies are solemn rather than sad, and the Saraband, a quick dance at the time, is positively skittish. The Pavins for lyra viol by Robert Jones and William Corkine are darker, but it’s the vocal pieces that plumb the depths. Cease leaden slumber and the songs by Dowland make telling use of two viols as well as the lute. There’s a wonderful passage in Goe nightly care where the treble viol gambols above a repeated monotone in the voice. A couple of mispronunciations apart, the singers acquit themselves well, but the honours go to Mieneke van der Velden, who plays with unfailing intensity and beauty of tone. gramophone.co.uk Tracklist 1. Prelude In D (Simpson) 01:40 2. Divisions Upon A Ground (Simpson) 05:05 3. A Pavin (Jones) 05:35 4. Coranto (Corkine) 01:20 5. The Punckes Delight (Corkine) 02:16 6. Cease Leaden Slumber (Hume) 04:07 7. Good Againe (Hume) 05:31 8. What Greater Griefe (Hume) 02:47 Suite In C Minor/Major 06:42 9. Fantazie (Loeke) 01:29 10. Courant (Loeke) 01:18 11. Fantazie (Loeke) 01:16 12. Fantazie (Loeke) 01:46 13. Saraband (Loeke) 00:51 14. Prelude (Dowland) 01:07 15. Go Nightly Cares (Dowland) 06:41 16. (A Piece Without A Title) (Dowland) 01:40 17. Coranto (Dowland) 01:23 18. Lasso Vitta Mia (Dowland) 03:32 19. Prelude In E (Simpson) 02:13 20. Divisions Upon A Ground (Simpson) 07:47 21. Like Hermit Poor (Lanier) 03:17 22. A Polish Ayre (Hume) 01:03 23. Fain Would I Change That Note (Hume) 01:41 24. A Pavin (Corkine) 03:21 25. Coranto (Corkine) 01:46 Total playing time 70:42 Musicians Mieneke van der Velden - viola da gamba (Antoine Despont, Paris 1617), treble viol (Ludovic Guersan, Paris 1768), lyra viol (David J. Rubio 1981) Fred Jacobs - lute (Michael Lowe 1986), theorbo (Martin Bowers, 1979) Jaap ter Linden - viola da gamba (Ossenbrunner, 1970) Peter Kooij - bass vocal Johannette Zomer - soprano vocal Recording data Production - Channel Classics Records BV Producer, recording engineer, editor - C. Jared Sacks Recorded at Doopsgezinde Kerk, Deventer, The Netherlands January 2004 Microphones - Bruel & Kjaer 4006, Schoeps Digital converter - DSD Super Audio/DCS AD/DA Pyramix Editing/Merging Technologies Speakers - Audio Lab, The Netherlands Amplifiers - Van Medevoort, The Netherlands Checksums for .iso MD5: 79b9ee2d9f3edc9cdd6f4f032c8f50b9 *Musickes Sweetest Joyes.iso SFV: Musickes Sweetest Joyes.iso EFED4046 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx51WyAOBDs https://www.filefactory.com/folder/666d66615086dbb9