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The Fantazia for consort of viols is one of the glories of English music, and this unique repertoire, spreading over nearly two centuries, represents the loftiest and most perfect kind of instrumental chamber music written in Europe before the era of the classical string quartet. In his Fantazias for viol, the young Henry Purcell put into practice all he had absorbed in the course of his technical and stylistic training.These pieces are a perfect illustration of his avowed ambition to surpass all his contemporaries. Since its London debut in 1986, the viol ensemble Fretwork has become established both as a leading force in early music and an inspiration to contemporary composers; its repertory spans the entire English consort tradition, including songs and verse anthems, alongside music from 16th and 17th-century Europe, as well as new works written especially for the consort. Fretwork performs and broadcasts regularly in the UK and has toured widely in many countries. It now records exclusively for harmonia mundi usa.
Purcell: Fantazia I (In 3 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia II (In 3 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia III (In 3 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia IV (In 4 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia V (In 4 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia VI (In 4 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia VII (In 4 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia VIII (In 4 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia IX (In 4 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia X (In 4 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia XI (In 4 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia XII (In 4 Parts)
Purcell: Fantazia Upon One Note (Fantazia Of 5 Parts)
Purcell: In Nomine (In 6 Parts)
Purcell: In Nomine (In 7 Parts)
10th June 2009
****
“The sheer technical mastery that Purcell distilled in his “fantazias” is astonishing. But these fluid, animated and emotionally acute performances from Fretwork show that his secure scholarship in the art of composition by no means curbed his caprice.”
27th June 2009
“Melancholy jostles with merriment, abruptness with eloquence; harmonies and logic go haywire..”
August 2009
****
“Nowadays, Fretwork takes a brisker view of the music though not perhaps a crisper one where matters of articulation are concerned. The playing in its new recording, with partly different personnel from the earlier one (Virgin), strikes my ears as being more fluent and expressively spontaneous.”
September 2009
“Fretwork have grown in confidence and flair… In this new recording they bring a stronger sense of the linear progression of the music, helped by slightly quicker tempi. They are less introspective, more engaging: they have mellowed. Purcell's remarkable Fantazias - out of sync with their time, never widely circulated or acknowledged in his day, yet works of true genius - are definitely worth revisiting.”
Purcell: Fantazia I (In 3 Parts)
