Smith & Handel

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His music occupies a strange sort of halfway territory between the late Baroque style and the progressive early Classical mould, and Julian Perkins captures the dichotomy of mid-18th-century... — Gramophone Magazine, September 2015 More…

Release Date: 5th May 2015
Catalogue No: CHAN0807
Label: Chandos
Series: Chaconne
Length: 77 minutes

This release includes a digital booklet

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Special offer ends: 22/05/2024

Handel: Riccardo Primo: Overture, HWV 456.5

Work length3:51

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Julian Perkins
Recorded: 7-9 December 2011
Recording Venue: Great Hall, Forde Abbey, Dorset, UK

Smith, J C: 6 Suites of Lessons for the Harpsichord, Op. 3 No. 1 in A Major

Work length14:05

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Julian Perkins
Recorded: 7-9 December 2011
Recording Venue: Great Hall, Forde Abbey, Dorset, UK

I. Allegro

Track length5:20

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$1.75

II. Larghetto

Track length5:19

$1.00

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III. Vivace

Track length3:26

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Smith, J C: 6 Suites of Lessons for the Harpsichord, Op. 3 No. 2 in C Minor

Work length12:39

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Julian Perkins
Recorded: 7-9 December 2011
Recording Venue: Great Hall, Forde Abbey, Dorset, UK

I. Andante allegro

Track length5:53

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$1.30

$1.75

II. Allegro

Track length3:23

$1.00

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III. Allegro

Track length3:23

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Smith, J C: 6 Suites of Lessons for the Harpsichord, Op. 3 No. 3 in F Major

Work length10:59

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Julian Perkins
Recorded: 7-9 December 2011
Recording Venue: Great Hall, Forde Abbey, Dorset, UK

I. Andante allegro

Track length4:56

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. Allemande

Track length2:50

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Allegro

Track length3:13

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Smith, J C: 6 Suites of Lessons for the Harpsichord, Op. 3 No. 4 in B-Flat Major

Work length9:11

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Julian Perkins
Recorded: 7-9 December 2011
Recording Venue: Great Hall, Forde Abbey, Dorset, UK

I. Andante

Track length4:56

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. Allegro

Track length2:06

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Tempo di Gavotte

Track length2:09

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Smith, J C: 6 Suites of Lessons for the Harpsichord, Op. 3 No. 5 in G Major

Work length14:03

$4.00

$5.20

$7.00

Julian Perkins
Recorded: 7-9 December 2011
Recording Venue: Great Hall, Forde Abbey, Dorset, UK

I. Vivace

Track length2:32

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. Allegro

Track length3:41

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

III. Allegro

Track length2:59

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. Minuetto - 5 Variations

Track length4:51

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Smith, J C: 6 Suites of Lessons for the Harpsichord, Op. 3 No. 6 in D Major

Work length12:53

$4.00

$5.20

$7.00

Julian Perkins
Recorded: 7-9 December 2011
Recording Venue: Great Hall, Forde Abbey, Dorset, UK

I. Cappricio

Track length2:40

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

II. Allegro

Track length3:05

$1.00

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$1.75

III. Andante gustoso

Track length3:11

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

IV. Gigue

Track length3:57

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

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The internationally acclaimed harpsichordist and early classical music specialist Julian Perkins here presents the premiere recording of six Suites for harpsichord by Handel’s assistant, John Christopher Smith. The new release on Chaconne also features an arrangement by Handel of the overture to his opera Riccardo Primo.

Music assistants often have a poor press. Franz Süssmayr is known only for his controversial completion of Mozart’s Requiem, while Robert Craft is known largely for his role as Stravinsky’s assistant. As Handel’s amanuensis, John Christopher Smith has suffered a similar fate. Moreover, confusion has prevailed as to his identity. His father shared the same Christian names and was Handel’s original amanuensis. Thus the omens for Smith’s musical legacy were poor from the start. This project seeks to reappraise Smith the composer, whose prolific music bubbles over with brilliance, wit, and charm – not to mention an irresistible penchant for trills!

As a man of the theatre, Smith cultivated a style that evinces a comic interplay between the baroque and rococo; in his pieces, athletic hand crossings, unpredictable figurations, sudden shifts from major to minor keys, and sequences built over repeated left-hand chords vie with one another to create music that is both technically demanding and theatrical.

Reviews

September 2015

His music occupies a strange sort of halfway territory between the late Baroque style and the progressive early Classical mould, and Julian Perkins captures the dichotomy of mid-18th-century England's Scarlattian obsession and the emerging rococo style in his judicious playing of Smith's Six Suites of Lessons for the Harpsichord...These playful lessons amply repay Perkins's curiosity.

10th May 2015

these six suites reveal a strikingly individual and gifted composer, often reminiscent of Domenico Scarlatti. The exuberantly stylish Julian Perkins is just the man for the job and tellingly collides the work of master and servant with a Handel keyboard transcription at the start.

Offer,Smith & Handel

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