This is probably the first disc which is entirely devoted to
"the other Purcell", who is - as its title indicates - largely
unknown. Daniel Purcell is generally considered the younger
brother of Henry, for instance in New Grove, but in his
liner-notes Peter Holman casts doubt on that assumption. He
believes that there are indications that he was the son of Thomas
rather than of Henry senior. "Daniel called Henry his brother
in the preface to his Six Cantatas of 1713, though in
seventeenth-century England the word 'brother' could include
cousins in the immediate family circle, as it still does in
some societies today". Whatever the relationship between the
two Purcell's, Holman underlines Daniel's independence and states
that his music has a character of its own. He lived much longer
and as a result his oeuvre includes musical forms and styles
which did hardly exist in Henry's time.
A look at the work-list in New Grove reveals that Daniel
was most active as a composer of music for the stage. In 1700
he took part in the competition to set William Congreve's The
Judgment of Paris in which he ended at third place, behind
John Wheldon and John Eccles. He also completed Henry's semi-opera
The Indian Queen after the latter's death in 1695. However,
Daniel was educated as an organist and for many years acted
as a keyboard teacher. Very few keyboard pieces from his pen
are known, though; this disc comprises nearly his complete output
in this genre. The Toccata in a minor which opens the
programme is the only independent piece for harpsichord. The
rest of Daniel's keyboard music comprises arrangements of works
for instrumental ensemble (Suite in D/d; Rondeau in
B flat) or songs which he composed for various stage works.
Such song arrangements were very popular at the time, and were
also frequently written by Henry.
The largest part of this disc is devoted to sonatas. Daniel's
output in this genre is rather modest. Just two collections
of sonatas were printed in 1698 and around 1710 respectively.
The first includes six sonatas - or "Solos" as they are called
- for one instrument and bc. Three of them are specifically
written for the violin and three for the recorder. However,
Peter Holman explains that the two instruments were largely
interchangeable and that composers expected performers to adapt
them through transposition. As a result we hear here the complete
collection on the violin. It would have been useful if the track-list
had indicated which sonatas were transposed and what the original
key is. As there are two sonatas from this set in D major -
at least in this performance - their place in the collection
should have been added as well. The other collection also includes
six sonatas, but here three are for two recorders, whereas the
remaining three are for one recorder. These are performed here,
probably again transposed.
The sonatas have a various number of movements, all with Italian
titles such as 'grave', 'adagio', 'allegro' or 'vivace'. They
are mostly rather short and generally avoid counterpoint. In
that respect they differ from the Corellian sonata da chiesa
which was quite popular at the time in England. The first composition
for violin and bc in the programme is the engaging Chaconne
in a minor which is an arrangement of a piece from the play
The Unhappy Penitent (1701). It was included in The
Second Part of the Division Violin, published in 1705. It
receives a well-differentiated and contrasting performance which
is promising for the rest of the programme.
Unfortunately these promises are never really fulfilled. The
faster movements mostly come of rather well; a good example
is the allegro from the Sonata in D (track 34).
However, Hazel Brooks fails to keep the slow movements interesting.
She mostly gives equal weight to the notes, without clearly
differentiating between stressed and unstressed notes through
dynamic contrasts or through articulation. There is some dynamic
shading on long notes, but it is too stereotypical. She is also
too sparing in the addition of ornamentation, and the use of
a slight vibrato now and then would have added some flavour
to her performances. Sometimes I wondered about the choice of
tempo. The Sonatas in b minor and in D major both
open with a vivace (tracks 8 and 13 respectively) but
these movements are played at a rather slow tempo. They don't
sound very vivace in my ears.
The grave from the Sonata in A (track 48) is a
kind of toccata and has a clear improvisatory character, but
that is hardly conveyed. The second adagio from the Sonata
in f minor which closes the programme is too rigid; it invites
for much more variation in tempo and dynamics. Ironically the
most dynamic part of these performances comes from the harpsichord
which has considerable presence and forward drive, but in the
end it is to no avail.
As much as one has to appreciate the effort to put Daniel Purcell
into the spotlight this project has largely turned into a rather
tame affair, I'm afraid. The track-list claims that all pieces,
except the last three sonatas (all from 1698), are recorded
here for the first time. That is not entirely correct: the German
ensemble Mediolanum has recorded one of the sonatas in A (tracks
23-27) from the same collection (Christophorus CHR77284). That
disc offers a nice mixture of pieces by Henry and Daniel, with
Daniel's sonatas played at the recorder.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
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Hazel Brooks (violin)*, David Pollock (harpsichord) 