ALSO AVAILABLE BY PAMELA THORBY ON LINN RECORDS 291 CKD

Baroque Recorder Concertos Handel Recorder Sonatas CKD 217 CKD 223

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pages 16 | 1 GARDEN OF EARLY DELIGHTS für Alte Musik, Bremen, and the Escuela Superior de Musica de Catalunya in Barcelona. PAMELA THORBY recorder In 1994 Andrew Lawrence-King formed his own ensemble, The Harp ANDREW LAWRENCE-KING harp, psaltery Consort, with whom he has made an extensive collection of award-winning In 1993, as a recent music graduate, I found myself being shown around recordings, from medieval drama and O’Carolan, to Bach, Vivaldi, a Mexican the high-end audio equipment manufacturer, Linn Products, hidden away mass and South American . His solo CDs include dances by Lully, suites in the depths of the Scottish countryside. Here I met Philip Hobbs, sound by Bach and melancholy by Dowland. His direction of Handel’s first opera, engineer / producer extraordinaire, the manager of the then-fledgling label Almira, won the American Handel Society prize for CD of the year. Linn Records. With his expertise and patience, the Palladian Ensemble (of Andrew Lawrence-King conducted a staged production of Peri’s Euridice which I was proud to be a member between 1991 and 2007) began a long at the Los Angeles Getty Centre for the 400th anniversary of the earliest opera, and fruitful relationship with Linn Records, which resulted in many award- and in summer 2008 directed the first UK performance of Hidalgo’s Celos aun winning albums. I could not have imagined that 15 years later, I would still del aire matan (1660). His work on 17th-century dances with Steven Player & have the good fortune to be associated with the same company and to have The Harp Consort has won the ensemble an unparalleled reputation for stylish had the opportunity to record the rare and unusual, as well as more familiar and entertaining stage shows, and his duo with was chosen repertoire. by Elvis Costello as record of the year in Rolling Stone magazine. He has been To coax an instrumenttosing, to breathecolour and sophisticated awarded an honorary doctorate by Sheffield University for his achievements nuancewithout mannerismintoamusicalline is an intricate challenge in baroque opera. and one which this repertoire certainly demands of the performer. With Andrew Lawrence-King now divides his time between solo recitals, regard to theinstruments on this recording, thehistoricalcopies Ihave tours with The Harp Consort, and appearances as guest director for , chosen could be variously described as ‘renaissance’, ‘ganassi’ or ‘transi- choirs and baroque in Europe, Scandinavia and the Americas, tional’models. Ihaveusedarticulations that arementioned in historical interspersed with worldwide performances of Luz y norte and Missa Mexicana. sources and found these particularly necessary in the quicksilver flights He is Principal Guest Director of Concerto Copenhagen (Scandinavia’s of demi-semiquaver runs; to achieve something more than just machine- leading baroque ), and the Florentine ensemble, L’Homme Armé gun precision, a fluent, expressive line at high speed demands an array of (specialising in baroque opera and oratorio). He is a regular guest teacher at flexible articulation possibilities. The ‘fruity’ temperament serves to Sibelius Academy & Helsinki Stadia (Finland) and has been awarded a three- heighten the delicious moments of – sometimes intentionally uncomfort- year Research Fellowship by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council to able – tension and release. research Spanish -drama.

215 I have picked freely from our musical ‘Garden of Early Delights’ to form a mixed bouquet of diverse, joyous, unusual and eloquent pieces. The quixotic drama of the experimental sonatas ‘in stil moderno’ is countered withburstsofgoodhumourinourtreatmentofvanEyck’s popularvariations: the sensuous melancholy of Dowland’s fabulous melodies contrasts with the formality of diminutions on favourite madrigals. Having worked on previous Linn projects with continuo-players of the calibre of harpsichordist Richard Egarr and lutenist William Carter, I am delighted to be collaborating with the extraordinary harpist Andrew Lawrence-King on this project. The intention for this album is not to create a dry historical document, but simply that it becomes part of the ever evolving tradition of musicians discovering and bringing to life a repertoire full of surprise, beauty and delight.

© Pamela Thorby, 2008

Pitch: A440 Tuning: quarter-comma meantone Pamela’s instruments: soprano ‘Ganassi’ recorder by Fred Morgan (on tracks 2, 3, 11, 13 and 16) g alto ‘Ganassi’ recorder by Michael Grinter (on tracks 1, 4, 5 and 9) and tenor recorder by Tom Prescott (on tracks 7 and 14) Andrew’s instruments: Baroque triple harp by Christopher Barlow after Italian models (on tracks 2, 5—16) Spanish double harp by Tim Hobrough after Zurberán (on track 1) Psaltery by Colin Booth after renaissance models (on track 4)

14 3 GARDEN OF EARLY DELIGHTS million-selling ‘’ albums and on ‘Imagined Oceans’, which was written especially for her. She also appears on Dame Kiri te Kanawa’s EMI release ‘Kiri DIEGO ORTIZ (c.1510~1570) sings Karl’. Her appearances on these albums make her possibly the most 1. Recercada segunda de tenore – from ‘Trattado de glosas’ (1553) listened to recorder player in the world. JACOB VAANN EYCK (1589/90~1657) Pamela began her career as a prize-winning student at the Guildhall 2. Wat zal men op den Avond doen School of Music and Drama (GSMD) in London and then received a prestigious 3. Derde, Doen Daphne d’over DAAD scholarship to study at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. 4. Boffons Within a few years of graduating she returned to the GSMD to teach the from ‘Der Flutyen Lust-hof’ (1644~c.1655) recorder as a principal instrument and is currently a visiting professor.

www.PamelaThorby.com DARIO CASTELLO (fl. c.1620~1630) 5. Sonata seconda a soprano solo from ‘Sonate concertate in stil moderno, Libro secondo’ (1629) ANDREW LAWRENCE-KING Baroque-harp virtuoso and imaginative continuo-player, Andrew Lawrence- JOHN DOWLAND (1563~1626) King is one of the world’s leading performers of early music. A creative and 6. Sorrow, sorrow stay – from ‘Second Booke of Songes’ (1600) inspiring conductor who directs from one of several continuo instruments JOHANN SCHOP (1590~1664) after Dowland (including harp, organ, harpsichord and psaltery), he has led baroque operas 7. Lachrime Pavaen – from ‘T’Uitnement Kabinet’ (1646) and oratorios at La Scala, Milan; Sydney Opera House; Casals Hall, Tokyo; Berlin Philharmonie; Vienna Konzerthaus; New York’s Carnegie Hall; and JOHN DOWLAND Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes. 8. Weep you no more – from ‘Third Booke of Songes’(1603) His musical career began as Head Chorister at the Cathedral and Parish Church of St Peter Port Guernsey, when he won an Organ Scholarship GIOVANNI BASSANO (c.1558~1617) after Lassus to Cambridge, completing his studies at the London Early Music Centre. He 9. Susanne ung jour rapidly established himself as a versatile continuo-player with Europe’s from ‘Motette, madrigali et canzone francese’(1591) foremost specialist ensembles and in 1988 founded and co-directed the DIEGO ORTIZ continuo-group, Tragicomedia. He joined Jordi Savall’s Hesperion XX as harp 10. Recercada segunda de canto llano – from ‘Trattado de glosas’ (1553) soloist, and was appointed Professor of Harp and Continuo at the Akademie

413 GIOVANNI BATTISTA FONTANA (died c.1630) 11. Sonata sesta – from ‘Sonate a 1. 2. 3. per il violino, o cornetto, fagotto, chitarone, violincino o simile altro istrumento’(1641) BIAGIO MARINI (1594 – 1663) 12. Passacalio – from ‘Per ogni sorte di strumento’ (1655) GIOVANNI BATTISTA FONTANA 13. Sonata seconda – from ‘Sonate a 1. 2. 3. per il violino, o cornetto, fagotto, chitarone, violincino o simile altro istrumento’(1641)

JACOB VAN EYCK after Caccini 14. Amarilli mia bella from ‘Der Flutyen Lust-hof’(1644~c.1655) DIEGO ORTIZ after Sandrin 15. Recercada prima sobre doulce mémoire from ‘Trattado de glosas’ (1553) GIOVANNI BASSANO after Clemens non Papa 16. Frais et gaillard from ‘Motette, madrigali et canzone francese’(1591)

Recorded at The National Centre for Early Music, York, UK from October 30th – November 1st 2006 Produced and engineered by Philip Hobbs Post-production by Julia Thomas Sleeve design by The Art Surgery Photos of Pamela by York Digital Image With thanks to Catherine Latham and to Dick and Jill Pyper.

12 5 nnocent joy in Eden; forbidden pleasures in Bosch’s famous Garden PAMELA THORBY of Earthly Delights; serenades, wit and sophisticated metaphors in Over thelastfew yearsPamela hasquietly established herself as one of IElizabethan drama; elegant formal design at European courts: the garden theworld’s leadingrecorderplayers.Her stylish virtuosity can be heard of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries brought forth a rich harvest of on numerous recordings of music ranging from the medieval period to the symbolism and literary associations. In the shady groves of Italian madrigals present day. and early operas, pastoral shepherds enjoy the delights of love. In English, Pamela’s ‘Baroque Recorder Concertos’ disc (Linn CKD 217) received Spanish and Dutch plays, Romeo serenades Juliet in the orchard garden by outstanding reviews – “a world-class performeer”r” (Gramophone) – and was a moonlight. Shakespeare chooses the garden for scenes of love, high-flown Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Her recording of ‘Handel Recorder Sonatas’ with allusion or low comedy; and in a grove of the ‘wood near Athens’, Titania sleeps Richard Egarr (Linn CKD 223) – “set to become a benchmark”” (The Independent) ‘lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight’. Nightingales sing, we hear the – was BBC Music Magazine ‘Chamber Music Disc of the Month’. soft music of recorders and plucked strings. Pamela hasappeared as concertosoloistand chamber musician with the In his 1553 Trattado (treatise), Diego Ortiz describes three ways for instruments to play together: free invention, variations over the repeating Palladian Ensemble, English Concert, Sonnerie, New London Consort and many harmonic sequence of a ground, and decorated versions of well-known other eminentperiod and modern instrumentensembles and orchestras. She madrigals.Hewritesnotforarenaissanceconsortofsimilarinstrumentsbutfor has toured extensively in major venues throughout the UK, Europe, USA, South a soloist, with the polyphonic lines combined into chords for the accompanist. America and the Middle and Far East. She has also featured on many film sound- The bare outline of the melody is swathed in embellishments – glosas: tracks and recordings forradio and television and hasbeen interviewedand standard cadence formulae that could be improvised in any performance; featuredonBBC Radio 4’sWoman’s Hour,Radio 3’sInTune,CDReviewand the subtle progressions through each melodic interval, to be prepared in advance; Early Music Show. “PamelaThorby’srelaxed virtuositydisguises theimmense complex ornamentation jumping across the polyphonic texture from one voice difficulty of playing the humble recorder this well” (BBC Radio 3 CD Review). to another (or even adding an additional voice), so elaborately worked as to Pamela was proud to be a member of the acclaimed Palladian Ensemble create a new composition. between 1991 and 2007. During that time the group achieved international Ortiz’s glosas literally ‘gloss’ the melody, replacing a single long note success with over a thousand concert performances around the world and ten by a flurry of shorter notes, ‘dividing’ slow notes into ‘diminutions’ - lots of acclaimed albums with Linn Records. little notes. This ‘music of division’ relies on the strength of the underlying As well as her ‘classical’ playing, Pamela’s ability to assimilate many melody, adding rhythmic sparkle with subtle patterning in the diminutions. styles of music and her skills as an improviser have led her to work with groups Later division settings – passaggi – feature note radoppiate, even faster ‘re- such as the jazz quartet, Perfect Houseplants; she guests on their album ‘New doubled’ notes, mixing languorous, delightfully agile and breathtakingly Folk Songs’ (Linn AKD 130). Pamela is also a featured soloist on all of ’

611 century Spain. In Italy, the seventeenth-century arpa doppia (meaning a large rapid articulations in complex rhythms assembled from fragments of scales harp, usually a tre ordini, with three parallel rows of strings) was prized as a and conventional passagework. continuo accompaniment for opera, songs or sonatas and as a solo instrument The explosion of ‘new music’ in the early seventeenth century – for ornamented madrigals and variations on ground basses. Cavalieri's Anima e Corpo, the first oratorio, and Peri’s Euridice, the earliest In England, harpists, keyboard players and lutenists shared a common surviving opera, both in 1600; Caccini’s continuo-songs, Le nuove musiche, in repertoire of instrumental settings of well-known vocal music, alongside 1601; Viadana’s continuo-motets in 1602 – was ignited by the new technique of division-sets based on ballad-tunes and dance-tunes. Many of these English composing directly for solo voice and basso continuo. Renaissance polyphony popular tunes are linked to Italian ground basses, those repeating chord- and the serene harmony of the spheres gave way to baroque solo display and to sequences referred to by Ortiz as tenores. Boffons, danced as a mock battle music of drama and emotional change, all designed to sway the listener’s mood with wooden swords, and Ortiz’s Recercada segunda de tenore are variations – muovere gli affetti – to tears, noble anger, love, or laughter. Where Ortiz had over the same passamezzo moderno bass. This ground, Shakespeare’s re-arranged polyphony to create a chordal accompaniment, Caccini published Passymeasures pavin, was known to lutenists as the Quadran pavan and to the accompaniment to his songs as a figured bass, from which the continuo barber-shop gittern players such as Gregory Walker. Gregory was a famous player would improvise harmonies and essential counterpoint. Peri’s recitar hairdresser, and this is the original ‘walking bass’! cantando (declaiming in song, i.e. recitative) employed forbidden dissonances Oneofthe paradoxes of early musicisthatthe period aesthetic did to imitate an actor’s spoken delivery, sudden contrasts of syllable speed to not favour ‘authenticity’. French chansons are given Neapolitan glosas and indicate passion, and extreme harmonies to express emotion. Venetian passagi; vocal polyphony is transformed into diminution solos for Instrumentalists continued to play variations on grounds and instruments.Inthe ‘excellent cabinet’,SchopaddsEuropean echoes and embellished versions of vocal music (Ortiz’s second and third recipes), but continental chromatics to Lachrime, that beloved icon of English melancholy. soon found an equivalent to the free invention of recitative song in the Van Eyck’s flowery Amaryllis in his ‘flautist's garden of delight’ ignores instrumental sonata. Just as the form of an operatic recitative or seventeenth- Caccini’s Florentine principles. And the very concept of an instrumental century madrigal would be dictated by the changing moods of the text – sonata is at odds with the vocal model that inspired it, the desire to move the ‘emotional logic’ rather than structural design – so instrumental sonatas were emotions by thedramatic recitation of atext. Thecomposersrepresented assembled in short, contrasting sections. Instruments imitated voices in the here took music and philosophies of past generations, and made them new. In simple rhythms of the canzona, in the operatic drama of strong dissonances that spirit, this programme’s first set of glosas is in every way a passamezzo and in the poignancy of recitative-like affetttii sections. Special effects - tremolo, moderno. arpeggio figures, extreme high and low notes – demonstrated the power of instrumental music, as charming, persuasive and awe-inspiring as that icon of © Andrew Lawrence-King, 2008 early opera, the lyre of Orpheus, the mythical, hell-harrowing cetra.

10 7 Music historians have tended to characterise the philosophy of this ‘new In Elizabethan England, Dowland’s Second Booke of Songes (1600) music’, of Florentine opera and Venetian sonatas, as a reaction against the appears to follow contemporary Italian fashion for solo settings with earlier diminution style. However singers and instrumentalists continued to plucked accompaniment. But his -tablature songs are far from Caccini’s write instruction manuals for diminutions and enriched the earlier tradition, continuo recitatives, not only in notational presentation, but also in musical developing the fashion for radoppiate and other new embellishments. In his and emotional content. Dowland’s music remains polyphonic, with strong nuove musiche (Florence, 1602), Caccini gives detailed instructions for the contrapuntal interest in the lower voices even when the principal voice is set realisation of the messa di voce, intonazione and esclamazione (starting a note apart as a solo. Where Italian texts revel in the dramatic contrast of opposing with a crescendo, with an upwards slide, or with a sudden accent, decrescendo affetti, the motto of the of Lachrime was Semper Dowland, semper and renewed crescendo), the trillo (repeated-note trill) and ribattuta di gola dolens: forever Dowland, forever melancholy. Contemporary English writers (literally ‘beating in the throat’, a reiterated, rapid flick from the note above). regarded strong emotions as ‘perturbations of melancholy’, whether ‘sadde His intention was not to abandon ornamentation, but to reform it by unifying and fearful’, ‘furious’ or ‘merry in apparaunce’, in which the ‘hart… breaketh it with the text, and thus with the emotional content of the song. In imitation out into that inordinate passion, against reason’. of such vocal models, instrumental sonatas similarly drew on the diminution- In English literary sources, the ‘sweet notes’ of recorders are heard players' arsenal of ornamental passaggi and special effects. ‘under a sweet arbour of eglantine’. Recorders, ‘the delight of each melody and Conversely, elaborate diminution-pieces from the last decade of the grove’ are associated with pastoral shepherds and singing birds, with dancing, sixteenth century onwards transcend mere virtuoso display to become and with the ‘pleasures of Love’, once 'the toils and the hazards of war’s at an new solo compositions in their own right, wholly within the new aesthetic end’. But the recorder too could be melancholy, a Shakespearian metaphor for of dramatic contrast and changing emotions, even when they are built on the ‘woes’ and ‘distresses’ heard in the ‘nightingale's complaining notes’. It the stable foundation of a polyphonic madrigal or renaissance chanson. could also create an eerie atmosphere for night scenes, funeral processions Diminution- usually chose pieces that had already become well or druidic rites. known in their original form; pastoral chansons, fresh and lively (Frais et In marked contrast to its present-day identity as a woman’s instrument galliard), or nostalgic (Doulce mémoire). Many of the originals have strongly played by angels, the Italian harp’s seventeenth-century image shows a young memorable harmonic sequences, as in the final phrases of Susanne un man, the incarnation of Pleasure. Orpheus plays aboard ship to ‘calme the Seas jour, Doulce mémoire and Amarilli. Many have distinctive, easily recognised with his Harp’, or most famously of all, in Hell. Harps are associated with King characteristics: the descending notes of Lachrime; the famous Amarilli David the psalmist, but also with love-scenes and dancing: many paintings motive; the upwards leap of a fourth and descending scales of Frais et galliard; show David dancing with an impracticably large double-harp embraced the melodic minor third that begins Susanne un jour; the strong, simple in his arms. Harps with two rows of strings crossing each other (in the way harmonies that announce Doulce mémoire. that the fingers of clasped hands interlace) were already known in sixteenth-

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