Classic CD: Purcell, Ten Sonatas in Four Parts

Purcell, Ten Sonatas in Four Parts
(Vivat, through Southbound)

Verdict: Sweet Purcellian sorrows, exquisitely rendered, soothe the soul and uplift the spiritIn a week of too many funerals, a new recording of Purcell's Ten Sonatas in Four Parts by The King's Consort has given the perfect solace and support.

The English composer is best known for his string Fantasias, written for old-fashioned viols; uncompromising and sometimes gnarly music, in which the composer seems to find new daring freedoms in archaic Renaissance forms.

The sonatas on this new Vivat CD have been touched by Mediterranean breezes, showing the influence of fashionable Italian styles. Robert King sets out their background in an eminently readable booklet essay.

He discusses their first publication by Purcell's widow, Frances, commenting how these pieces have "a delicious ineradicable vein of melancholy".

"While the sonatas contain much music that uplifts the soul," he continues, "it is these moments of introspection that prove the most telling."

Years ago, King and his musicians gave us definitive recordings of Purcell's extensive choral music.

Now he does the same within a more modest palette, playing chamber organ or harpsichord himself, with two violins pitted against bass viol and theorbo.

The sonorities, fluctuating from piece to piece, are totally bewitching, bowed strings beautifully complemented by plucked theorbo and ethereal organ.

The opening Grave movement of the first sonata may deliver sweet sadness, but the ensuing Largo does indeed, in the words of King, swing elegantly.

Within two tracks, in the key of D minor, there is the familiar tang of Purcell's free-roving dissonances, and one becomes aware of the insistent eloquence of Susanne Heinrich's bass viol in the rich and vibrant textures.

The sole C major sonata reveals the joyous Purcell, and be prepared to be swept away by the sheer joie de vivre of its opening Vivace.

A later Canzona movement continues in the same line, although you may be frustrated by King's spirited harpsichord continuo being very much in the shadow of Cecilia Bernadini's and Huw Daniel's eloquent violins.

Vivat is a small English label, just a few years old, and this is only its sixth release. I would not be without one of them.