The cover image for this album is "Couple III" (2019) by artist Alexander Polzin.
Interpretation
Phantasm, the viol consort, aims to make Bach's keyboard polyphony sing and dance in new ways by assigning individual melodic lines to separate players.
Recording & Production
This album, "The Well-Tempered Consort - II", was recorded in Magdalen College Oxford, UK, in August 2020.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The "Well-Tempered Clavier" explores the entire range of human subjective experience, from innocent joy to abject debasement, forming the bedrock of Bach's '48.
Interpretation
The performers on this album imagine themselves playing various instruments like oboe d'amore, bassoon, recorder, flute, trumpet, trombone, or even singing vocal parts, to capture the full range of Bach's musical ideas.
Performer Biography
Phantasm, the viol consort on this album, was founded in 1994 by Laurence Dreyfus and has won three Gramophone Awards, including for their debut recording of Henry Purcell's works.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" is described as highly experimental music, demanding more from its virtual players than Bach ever asked in real life, with wide ranges, awkward keys, and complex coordination.
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Gran Partita
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Mozart: Serenade No. 10, "Gran Partita" - Dvorak: Serenade in D minor, Op. 44
R. Strauss: Serenade in E-Flat Major, Op. 7; Sonatina No. 2 in E-Flat Major "Cheerful Workshop" / Dvořák: Serenade in D Minor, B. 77
