More from Phantasm

John Jenkins: Five-Part Consorts
Avie (AV 2120)
2007
Phantasm (plus Mikko Perkola)

***


I had my introduction to Phantasm, Oxford University's consort-in-residence viol group about four months ago with their 1999 disc of 4- and 5-part consorts by William Lawes. That disc made a strong impression on me, and I subsequently sampled their 2004 disc, The Four Temperaments, featuring works of Byrd, Ferrabosco, Parsons and Tallis. So far, the group seem incapable of mundanity. They have been together since 1994, and I'm thrilled to continue working through their existing catalog of recordings.

This disc dates from 2007 and features the music of English composer John Jenkins (1592-1678). The little-known Jenkins was a friend of William Lawes, and appears to have spent his career toggling between official royal music-making and as the private composer to several wealthy English families. On the strength of these pieces he surely deserves to be better-known. These consorts have a wonderful assertive quality, conveying the composer's deep and exhilarating self-confidence.

Once again Phantasm and Laurence Dreyfus, this time assisted by the Finn Mikko Perkola, display the very highest standards of musicianship, bringing these works absolutely to life for us. I note this with every recording, I realize, but I'm always struck: the inherent blend of the gut-stringed viols and Phantasm's flawless articulation and intonation convince me that this ensemble could render almost any period's music to advantage. (Admittedly, there's a big dollop of personal preference at work here, but the recent Emerson String Quartet disc of fugues from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier--really capital idea though it is--only reminds me how much better these works would sound to my ear on gambas rather than violins.)

Whatever the truth of my views, it seems improbable that someone could improve on these settings here. Once again, highest marks.

Phantastick!

Four Temperaments - Byrd, Ferrabosco, Parsons, Tallis
Phantasm (plus Emilia Benjamin and Asako Morikawa)
Avie Records, AV2054 (2004)

Tallis: A Solfing song; In nomine I a4; In nomine II a4;
Byrd: Queen's Goodnight (Prelude and Ground); Pavan a6; Galliard a6
Parsons: A song of Mr Robert Parsons; In nomine III a5; De la court; Ut re mi fa sol la; A Song called Trumpets
Ferrabosco: Pavan a5; In nomine I a5; In nomine II a5; In nomine III a5; Fantasia a4; Sur la Rousée (Fantasia a6)

***

Another fabulous disc from the British gamba quartet, Phantasm, this time joined by Emilia Benjamin and Asako Morikawa. I've been on a bit of a mission to find more of the obscure Robert Parsons, and here are several more of his pieces, in addition to Byrd and Tallis and another fellow of whom I've not heard, Alfonso Ferrabosco (presumably the younger, though he comes from a long line of composers out of Bologna).

There's just something in this presentation--an intimate grouping of expertly-played viols--that brings this music to life. There is a palpable joy in the part writing, in the interplay between voices that bears the indelible stamp of its time and place. But rather than sounding archaic, the group's infectious vitality makes these compositions sound current and thrilling.

The pieces cover an emotional range from rollicking to funereal. The group's phrasing and intonation are spot-on, and the recording is excellent, though close and intimate (in keeping with the settings where this music might originally have been heard, perhaps?). Mr. Parsons shows a bit more playfulness than in the other brief exposures I've heard, and seems to write always with a confident hand.

Highly recommended.

A Lawes Unto Themselves

William Lawes: Consorts in Four and Five Parts
Phantasm (plus Sarah Cunningham)
Channel Classics CCS 15698

Works for Five Voices:

• Set in a
• Set in F
• Set in c
• Set in C
• Set in g

Works for Four Voices:

• Fantazy in c (VdGS #108)
• Aire [Fantazy] in C (VdGS #111)
• Aire in c (VdGS #109)
• Aire in C (VdGS #112)
• Aire in c (VdGS #110)
• Aire in C (VdGS #113)

***

Phantasm are a quartet of viols comprised of Americans Laurence Dreyfus and Wendy Gillespie, the Scot Jonathan Manson and Finn Markku Luolajan-Mikkola. Founded by Laurence Dreyfus in 1994, the group have been the Consort-in-Residence at Oxford University since 2005, and have won numerous awards, including a Grammophon Award for Best Non-Vocal Baroque Performance with their very first CD, 1995's recording of Purcell's Complete Fantasies for Viols (Simax - PSC 1124). They now have 11 recordings to their credit, including works by Byrd, John Jenkins and Orlando Gibbons among others.

This present release dates from 1999, and is one of two discs featuring music of William Lawes (1602-1645). This disc covers Consorts written for both four and five voices (for which the quartet is supplemented by Sarah Cunnningham).

There's a magnetism in the plaintive, organum-like sound of a group of gambas, something that taps into the foundation of musicality itself. After the human voice, these instruments provide about the most basic example of a sustained, blending tone, which then leads to an essential exposure to harmony and the fundamentals of counterpoint and voice leading. I find the gamba family sound much more appealing in general than the violin family, not because of its period-correctness but because it's a purer tone with a more interesting articulation. And it doesn't escape me that many of these pieces would translate very well to the organ (just as Fretwork so beautifully translated Bach's organ works to a gamba ensemble). Some of the sets are lugubrious and solemn, while others are quite rollicking, and would be fun to play (and see played). Belaboring a point I've made on numerous occasions before, here is yet another specialized niche musical concern based in or around London, a place which already sports the aforementioned Fretwork. You gotta love the place.

These pieces are perfectly played. I'm eager now to look into both their companion volume to this one of Lawes' Six-Part Consorts, as well as a couple volumes of John Jenkins. High marks on this one.

Original Bach

J.S. Bach: Viola da gamba Sonatas, etc.
Aapo Hakkinen, harpsichord and Mikko Perkola, viola da gamba
Naxos records, 8.570210

• Three Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord, BWV 1027-1029
• Two Trios, BWV 583 and 584
• Harpsichord Sonatas, BWV 963 and 967

***

The gambist on this Naxos release from late last year is Finnish baroque specialist and early music teacher Mikko Perkola. He is joined by the young Finnish harpsichordist Aapo Hakkinen, who teaches at the Helsinki Sibelius Academy, and is the Artistic Director of the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and of the Early Music concert series at the Institut Finlandais in Paris.

These Viola da Gamba Sonatas are most often performed nowadays on 'cello and a modern grand piano, and while I came to be familiar with these pieces on that instrumental combination at the hands of Leonard Rose and Glenn Gould years ago, I find it to be different and more vital music when performed on the instruments Bach knew. For me it's not so much an authenticity thing--though I cast no aspersions on that goal, and at times I place my own premium on this priority; rather, I just find the character and tone of the viola da gamba aligns with something deeply in my musical sensitivities that the 'cello doesn't quite reach, despite it being my favorite voice of the modern string family. The vibrato-free steadiness and slightly nasal tone of the gamba seems to fully expose the artist, and the harpsichord's metallic timbre contrasts with the flatter tone of the viol, giving a richness and edge to the sound the breathes life into the works.

In addition to the more popular three Sonatas, the recording includes a couple less-well-known movements, the Trios BWV 583 and 584, which I know as solo organ pieces, and which are thought to date from around the same time as Bach's famous Trio Sonatas for organ (BWV 525-531). The recording also includes a couple pieces for solo harpsichord which I'm surprised to find are not in my collection--well, one not at all (BWV 967, considered a bit dubious) and the other (BWV 963) is on organ. So some new or substantially freshened repertoire is always a treat. The sonatas are all expertly played, with tempos and phrasing just perfect to my ear.

The recording, as always with Naxos, is excellent.

Bach On Ye Olde Hurdy-Gurdy

Bach: Alio Modo
Fretwork
Harmonia Mundi 907395

1. Pièce d'Orgue in G major BWV 572
2. Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein BWV 641
3. Prelude & Fugue XVI in G minor BWV 885
4. Passacaglia in C minor BWV 582
5. Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit
6. Christe, aller Welt Trost
7. Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist BWV 671
8. Dies sind die heiligen zehen Gebot BWV 678
9. Dies sind die heiligen BWV 679
10. Prelude & Fugue XXII in A minor BWV 867
11. Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir BWV 686
12. Fugue in E-flat major, "St Anne" BWV 522.2
13. Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit BWV 668
14. Prelude & Fugue XI in F major BWV 880
15. Wir gläuben all an einen Gott BWV 680
16. Fugue IV in D minor BWV 849
17. Ricercar BWV 1079
18. Canon triplex BWV 1076

***

OK, not really a Hurdy-Gurdy. (But that's what I imagine a critic might say, like Thomas Beecham's quip about the harpsichord sounding like "two skeletons copulating on a tin roof.")

This 2005 CD is one of my very favorites from the last five years. Take a veteran and decorated period instrument ensemble, and match them up with select pieces from Bach's vast catalog of fabulous organ compositions, and the results are pure magic.

Fretwork are a London-based viol ensemble, a group of six regular members who specialize in baroque and pre-baroque repertoire. They've made numerous ensemble recordings and backed up soloists on several different music labels. I first encountered them with a recording a few years back of Bach's Art of Fugue and another of music of John Dowland. But this disc hits a home run for me repertoire-wise, with several pieces that are pointed favorites of mine: the c minor Passacaglia, the G Major Piece d'Orgue, and the organ chorale Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit (supposedly written on Bach's deathbed and devastating in its restrained, heartbreaking beauty).

These pieces would sound good on, say, a modern string sextet (hell, Bach sounds great on anything), but the viols are an especially auspicious setting. The viola da gamba family was very familiar to Bach, so it's not an inappropriate sound for baroque music. And the sound seems tailor-made for ensemble work, being rather nasal and quieter than its violin-family counterpart and with a particularly good ensemble blend. Standard period practice seems to dictate that vibrato is used sparingly, if at all; so the resulting sound is clear and very pure, and the emotional content of the music is restrained and cerebral. It's a similar sound to the pipe organ, at least to certain individual stops, but on a more intimate and individually-expressive scale. Even though an organist can allot a piece's parts among a pedal and a couple of keyboards, assigning each part to its own individual string instrument brings even greater clarity to the part-writing, laying Bach's ingenious counterpoint completely before one. The only thing better for comprehending Bach's architectural mind is the score itself.

While I've always believed there is a deep emotional content to Bach's music--and indeed some scores are manifestly emotional--it often seems to me that this emotional content is buried beneath an ecrypting technical layer, that some work is involved for the listener to get to it. This is why one often hears from the unfamiliar or uninitiated that Bach's music is "cold" or "mechanical;" they haven't done the work to get to the juicy marrow beneath. This recording brings us as close as possible to Bach's conception, and to that marrow. Whereas the organ often has a lot of church-related baggage to overcome with the non-organ-loving public, this disc presents some sublime music in a way that doesn't require this dissociative step from the listeners. The person who doesn't respond to this disc, I think, is just not going to like this repertoire, period.

I do have one little niggle: at times in these pieces, the ensemble seems to swell and diminish with no discernible (to me) rationale, almost as though some producer told them they needed to avoid monotony. It's a small thing, but if I can't grasp what contribution it's making to a musical idea, then the exercise is more distracting than anything. But it's but a tiny blotch (if indeed it is that) on an otherwise magical release.