Counter-tenor Iestyn Davies and and the viol consort Fretwork present a new recording of works for viol consort and voice drawn from 17th-century Germany, following their critically-praised 2019 album of works by Michael Nyman and Henry Purcell (If, SIGCD586).
Featuring performances from organist Silas Wollston and counter- tenor Hugh Cutting, the recital ranges widely over the 17th century – from the early years with three curiously similar sounding friends: Schein, Scheidt and Schütz, to the most significant member of the Bach family before Johann Sebastian, Johann Christoph Bach. From their they travel down North Sea to the foothills of the Alps, including Buxtehude’s predecessor at the Marienkirche in Lübeck – Franz Tunder (whose daughter Buxtehude was to marry) and another north German composer who worked in Copenhagen, Christian Geist. Giovanni Felice Sances is an outlier here: he was born in Rome, but spent the second part of his life working for three successive Emperors in Vienna, where viol playing was still very much in vogue.
In 2021, Fretwork celebrates its 35th anniversary. In the past three and a half decades they have explored the core repertory of great English consort music, from Taverner to Purcell, and made classic recordings against which others are judged. In addition to this, Fretwork have become known as pioneers of contemporary music for viols, having commissioned over 40 new works.
Iestyn Davies is a British countertenor widely recognised as one of the world’s finest singers celebrated for the beauty and technical dexterity of his voice and intelligent musicianship. Critical recognition of Iestyn’s work can be seen in two Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, a RPS Award for Young Singer of the Year, the Critics’ Circle Award and recently an Olivier Award Nomination. He was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2017 for services to music.
“★★★★From the very first track (Tunder’s ‘Salve mi Jesu’) we encounter the central delight of this recording – the pure, clear countertenor voice of Iestyn Davies. His sense of phrasing and awareness of the changing harmonic colours provided by the accompanying instruments are consistent musical attributes” – BBC Music Magazine
“Davies is not only capable of singing about pain and anguish – for contrast, try If (Signum Classics), his other disc with Fretwork – but the purity of his voice, with its rich palette of inflections, and his communication of the text, makes this ideal repertoire for him, and us.”– The Guardian
“[Schutz’s Auf dem Gebirge] It’s a gem, one among several on this beautiful release” – Gramophone
“All in all, this is an interesting and compelling disc which attests to the spiritual depth of German music of the 17th century” – Musicweb International
