EMA Recording & Book Reviews

Charles Avison is best known as a theorist and for his 1752 'Essay on Musical Expression.' But he was also a composer whose attitudes — learn the rules of harmony; break them to be expressive — reached far beyond Georgian England.

Ruckus describes itself as a 'continuo band,' and for its latest album the adventurous ensemble is backing fiddler Keir GoGwilt in a collection of wild, romping tunes by Niel Gow (1727-1807), a legend in the Scottish tradition. The band plays Gow's music with all the virtuosity and flair they'd bring to Purcell and Handel.

Beethoven was commissioned to transcribe the solo part of his beloved Violin Concerto for keyboard, rarely heard today. Canadian fortepianist Anders Muskens and a top period-instrument band give it a rousing go—brisk and flexible, imaginative and insightful. Much of the playing is a delight.

In this beautifully paced recital, Baroque oboist Debra Nagy and harpsichordist Mark Edwards create an equal partnership and explore familiar music by J.S. Bach and François Couperin, often in delightful arrangements.

Clément Janequin occupies a unique spot in early music, where several of his kaleidoscopic chansons — including 'Le Chant des oyseaux, and 'La Chasse' — are a hit among vocal ensembles. An agile, often humorous new book covers the range of Janequin's work and his times, aimed at reaching the performer as much as the scholar.

You might have come across the composer, singer, and harpsichordist Elisabetta de Gambarini (1731-1765) from music history books, but until now there's not been significant recordings of her work. Now Margherita Toretta, a pianist, has brought together all Gambarini's known keyboard pieces on one disc.

In early 18th-c. Britain, a competition to help promote opera in English led to a surprise winner. John Weldon's 'The Judgment of Paris,' recorded for the first time by the Academy of Ancient Music, boasts colorful orchestration, clever choral writing, and rapturous music.

Where's the boundary between 'folk' and 'art' when it comes to early music? Does it matter? Joyously muddled, The Curious Bards' latest recording, ‘Sublimation,’ is a 'trad' album with early-music nuance, an early-music album with folk energy.

The 'early music' movement is at an artistic crossroads and the field seems to be pushed and pulled in many directions. In 'Music in the 21st Century,' an array of authors dissect the recent past and consider the future for historical performance. It's a stimulating collection of essays on topics familiar and unexpected.

In this imaginative and deeply satisfying new recording, the French period-instrument quartet named Nevermind finds the chamber music in Bach's Goldberg Variations. Surprisingly, harpsichordist Jean Rondeau and his three colleagues find truths in the music that are beyond the reach of the original.