Music Chamber

Music for the London Stage - Spiritato!: Kinga Ujszászi, Alexis Brett (Violin) Joanne Miller (Viola) Alice Manthorpe Saunders (Cello) Nicolás Mendoza (Harpsichord) William Russell (Trumpet) and Oliver-John Ruthven (Tenor)

 

H Purcell: Suite from The Fairy Queen

First Music – Prelude

Hornpipe

Second Music – Aire

Rondeau

See, even night herself is here

Dance for the followers of the night

When I have often

 

G Finger: Sonata for Trumpet and Violin

Andante : Adagio : Allegro : Grave – Allegro 

 

M Locke: Music for The Tempest

First Musick : Galliard : Gavot

Second Musick (Saraband) : Lilk : Curtain Tune

First Act Tune (Rustick Air) : Second Act Tune (Minoit)

Third Act Tune (Corant) : Fourth Act Tune (Martial Jigge)

The Conclusion (A Canon, 4 in 2)

 

G Finger: Music for The Humors of the Age

Overture

Aire : Round O Sebell (Rondeau Cybell) : Trumpet Aire

Minuett : Aire : Aire : Jigg

 

H Purcell: Suite from The Fairy Queen

Drama, both on and off the stage...

 

With the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, music once again flourished in Courts and churches across the country. The many companies of actors, such as those established at The Red Bull and The Cockpit theatres, also hoped to see a return to the theatre system existent prior to the Civil War, allowing many companies to compete for the attention of the audience. Having ascended to the throne in March, the new King issued warrants in August for the creation of two theatre companies, under the management of Sir Thomas Killigrew and Sir William Davenant. However, these were the only warrants to be issued by Charles, who wished to prevent 'much matter of profanation and scurrility' in his new playhouses. This limit on the number of acting companies created a monopoly that would be a source of intense rivalry and controversy well into the 18th Century. Of the two new companies, The King’s Company, based at the Theatre Royal, Bridge Street, and managed by Sir Thomas Killigrew, contained the most experienced and well-known pre-war actors. The troupe led by Sir William Davenant became known as the Duke’s Company, basing itself at the newly constructed Lisle’s Tennis Court theatre at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Whilst the King’s Company may have contained the better actors, it was Davenant’s revolutionary new theatre that wowed audiences in the early 1660’s. The building was the first theatre to feature mechanically operated, movable scenery and used a far larger stage than Elizabethan or Jacobean audiences had ever seen. Candle-lit theatres, made of wood and covered in fabric and straw, were especially prone to the risk of fire. In 1672 the Theatre Royal, owned by the King’s Company burnt to the ground and the players were forced to relocate to Lisle’s Tennis Court until a new venue, the Drury Lane Theatre could be built. By this time the Duke’s players, under the management of Davenant’s son, had already moved into the Dorset Garden Theatre, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Sir Thomas Killigrew, despite having been appointed Master of Revels by the king, was known to have been a disastrous manager. In 1676, a bitter dispute broke out over ownership of the Company, which he had promised to his son Charles but whose profits were seized by his many creditors. Unable to settle the dispute and with the actors wages increasingly in arrears, the company dissolved in 1682, Killigrew dying just a year later. Fortunately for Killigrew’s actors, the disbanded company was able to join forces with the Duke’s Company forming the United Company under the direction of the famous actor Thomas Betterton. This new company, reducing the theatrical monopoly still further, was very successful and would remain the sole troupe of players in London until 1692. By 1693 the popular Betterton had been removed as manager by Davenant’s son, Alexander. The company was heavily in debt, and it was not long before Alexander Davenant had fled the country, charged with embezzlement. The company continued to operate but Betterton was finally forced out as wages were once again cut to save money. With William III now on the throne, Thomas Betterton was able to obtain a licence to create a new troupe, whose company neatly avoided the danger of incompetent managers by becoming self-governing. Once more, London could boast two competing theatre companies. 

 

Godfrey Finger (c.1660-1730)

 

Born in Olmütz, in what is now the Czech Republic, Godfrey Finger moved to England in 1685. During his early musical education he became familiar with the works of Biber and Schmelzer, who had both composed for the trumpet. Before travelling to England, Finger would most likely have heard the playing of Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky, himself a successful composer and trumpeter. Undoubtedly influenced by the music and playing style of these figures, Finger’s trumpet writing mixes both English and ‘Germanic’ idiomatic writing. The Sonata for Trumpet, Violin and Continuo, as with all his compositions for the trumpet, was written early in his career. The setting of the trumpet itself within a small ensemble is extremely unusual for the period, when the instrument is more often found playing with a much larger string accompaniment. Finger became an accomplished and well established composer for the English theatre. The music composed for Thomas Baker’s comedy The Humors of the Age is far more accomplished in style and harmony than the earlier sonata. The original production, given at the Drury Lane theatre in 1701, was extremely successful and featured additional songs by Daniel Purcell, the younger brother of Henry Purcell, with whom Finger collaborated regularly.

 

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

 

Hailed by his contemporaries as the most uniquely gifted composer of his day, little is known of Henry Purcell outside of his musical life. Born in Southern England, the son of a musician, Purcell was accepted to the Choir of the Chapel Royal at an early age, remaining on the payroll for the rest of his life. As a result of political change, an influx of highly virtuosic French musicians and newly developed woodwind instruments from the continent, Purcell was able to pioneer a brand new concept – the Baroque Orchestra. Purcell championed this type of group throughout his life, and dominated the London opera scene with four highly successful works; Dioclesian, King Arthur, The Fairy-Queen and The Indian Queen, with over forty further works for the theatre. In addition, the popularity of his works created great demand for his music and he also composed for the church and domestic markets. He remained unchallenged as England’s finest orchestral composer right up until his death which, mourned across the country, led the Biographer and amateur musician Roger North to comment; ‘a greater musicall genius England never had.’

 

Matthew Locke (1622-1677)

 

In the face of ever increasing foreign influence during the period, Matthew Locke can be regarded as a ‘standard-bearer’ for English musical style. Born in the West-country, Locke was already an established composer when King Charles II returned from exile in 1660. A close friend of Purcell, he is often noted as being a particularly difficult man to get along with and ‘possessed of a vindictive nature’ that frequently led him into trouble. Locke provided the music for the coronation of King Charles II and a year later became Organist to the Queen and Composer in Ordinary to the King, a position in which Purcell succeeded him. At a time when the King’s and Duke’s Companies were constantly trying to out-do each other, Locke was instrumental in the development of the Dramatick Opera. This new form of theatre, featuring elaborate changes of scenery, dancers, trapdoors and other theatrical spectacles, revolutionised the genre, and although heavily cristicised by purists, was adored by the public. Published in 1675, and in the same collection as his opera Psyche, was a series of instrumental movements to accompany Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The opening Curtain Tune was designed on an extended basis of a long crescendo and acceleration followed by a long diminution and rallentando.  In the inner dance movements Locke creates tension, combining the conventions of dance with radical harmonies. The Conclusion, a canon, 4 in 2, splits the musicians into two opposing groups, each theme skilfully intertwined with the other.  

 

Spiritato! gathers together many of London's finest young baroque musicians to give dynamic performances of some of the most moving and beautiful music ever written. Founded in 2008, the group has sought to challenge audiences, both old and new, with innovative programmes featuring lesser known composers alongside more established names. Working primarily as a small scale chamber group, the ensemble can be extended to perform larger works and is equally at home playing both intimate chamber recitals and rousing large scale concerts.

 

Programme notes by William Russell ©2010