Henry Purcell: Suite From Dioclesian: Organ: Instrumental Work

An Instrumental Masque drawn from the works of Henry Purcell. Par WUORINEN CHARLES. 1(picc).2(II=Ca).1(B-cl).2 - 2.2.1.0 - Timbales - Hp - Piano Str(min.6.4.3.3.1) - Durée: 80 min / Contemporain / Répertoire / Grand Ensemble Contemporain et Orchestre

Easier Piano Pieces 78-An anthology of easy pieces from the last forty years of the 17th century: the post-Restoration period which was dominated by the outstanding figure of Henry Purcell. The sources are the most important keyboard collections published in England between 1663 and 1702. These charming pieces provide an ideal introduction to English music of the period and are well-adapted technically to the requirements of beginners and elementary keyboard players.

7 Pieces for Descant Recorder and Keyboard-As well as being a successful church and court composer Purcell wrote extensively for the stage composing several operas semi-operas and masques. Now Gwilym Beechey has made seven of these fantastic works accessible to the instrumental player carefully choosing and arranging a selection of these pieces for descant recorder and keyboard. Included in this edition are dances airs and jigs from Purcell’s popular opera King Arthur (1691) and semi-operas The Fairy Queen (1692) and The Indian Queen (1695). A Purcell Suite also features one of his most famous pieces the Rondeau in D minor from the incidental music he wrote for Abdelazer.

Jan de Haan's Westminster Suite consists of three distinct pieces of the work of Henry Purcell: the festive fanfare at the beginning is followed by the magnificent Anthem of the Funeral Music for Queen Mary. Finally there is the famous Rondo from the Abdelazar Suite.

These three Suites are taken from Purcell's Suites For Clavecin and have been arranged for Soprano and Alto Recorder duet by Ernest Leeuwenburgh.

Poul Ruders' Handel Variations for Orchestra (2009) -Ninety Symphonic Reflections on Eight Bars by Georg Friedrich Handel.Commissioned by and dedicated to the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra in celebration of their 75th anniversary 2010. Premiered by The Aarhus Symphony Orchestra conducted by Giancarlo Andretta at the Aarhus Concert Hall 14 January 2010. Programme noteThe short feisty Bourrée from Handel´s famous Water Music (First Suite in F major) has for some years been hovering at the back of my mind as possessing the perfectpotential for a series of variations. Not unlike the short 'morsel' by Henry Purcell (the witches Ho-ho-ho-chorus from the opera Dido and Aeneas) which kicks off the ten variations of my orchestral work Concerto in Pieces the music per se is not particularly interesting but it nevertheless grows on you and is difficult to get rid of. It is merely a handful of sequences (a technique much used in the Baroque era - a method in which the same motif is being shifted up and down in a specified order). Actually it is only the first eight bars of the Bourrée which I haul through the wringer.It would be obvious to assume that Handel Variations make up a sequel to Concerto in Pieces but in spite of the similarity in character between the two chosen themes the Handel Variations are far more symphonically coherent. There are no less than ninety (!) variations and each variation (they are relatively short ranging from four up to forty-something bars) runs seamlessly into the next creating a huge symphonic body of constantly changing colours. I set out with the original theme without interfering but the 'erosion' begins to gnaw away at the theme already from the first variation. Imagine a vast gallery of Handel portraits in which Georg Friedrich appears at first fully recognizable but then the 'disfiguration' sets in and