Customer Reviews

Consorts in 2 Parts

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just wanted to take a moment to voice a different opinion than the other person who reviewed both this CD and the composer himself, Matthew Locke. Matthew Locke is a unique, original and great composer. The previous viewer is under the opinion that "the music itself is where this loses out. There is not enough range and variety in these pieces, so though each one is good, all of them together become a bit much. There is a reason Matthew Locke is a relatively unknown composer."

The previous reviewer needs to keep in mind that what he is listening to are "Locke's Consorts in Two Parts," not Matthew Locke's greatest hits. Locke wrote a great variety of music from harpsichord pieces, to anthems to large scale vocal and orchestral works, to pieces like these. Obviously all these pieces sound similar, they are all Consorts in Two Parts, after all! This should in no way be something to hold against Locke as a composer. Matthew Locke is a very important predecessor to Henry Purcell and still holds his own with his own unique chromatic and angular style of baroque music. Definitely someone worth checking out...

Matthew Locke was a master of the spiky, quirky English baroque style; his chamber music fizzes with intelligence and abounds in wrily bitter dissonaces, touching the heart just as often as it teases the brain. Being a late representative of a tradition of English viol consort music that stretched back to the Renaissance, Locke's music seems more "baroque" than many of his predecessors'. In contrast to works for a full consort of viols, in which a rich polyphony is the order of the day, these suites are scored for just a treble and a bass part with chordal continuo - the treble line assigned to that most baroque of instruments, the violin, and the bass part taken by a bass viol. There is something refreshing about this lean two-part texture, combining the old and the new.

Like the music itself, these performances by the Montreal-based group Masques are gutsy and full of spunk. Often eliding several of the short dance movements together, they create an exhilarating sense of momentum, especially palpable when Locke suddenly switches to the major mode in the middle of a minor-key suite. My one complaint is that the musicians could have enjoyed themselves more in the lyrical movements (the ayres); there are some delicious melodies here, and these movements come off sounding rather too dry. Still, these are invigorating renditions of some still too little known repertoire. Matthew Locke's music is full of personality and deserves to be heard.

Finally, a word on the issue raised by the reviewer below on the question of variety. While all these suites are obviously cut from the same cloth (which is, of course, typical of publications in the baroque era), there is a good deal of variety among them. Locke was adept at bringing out the distinctive colors and characters of different keys, and there are also subtle variations in the sequence of movements. So while perhaps I would hesitate to listen to this CD all in one sitting (something Locke never envisioned, after all!) I have no qualms in owning an entire recording of Locke's Consorts in Two Parts.

In every classical CD there are three separate things being evaluated: the playing, the recording, and the music itself. With known quantities, item 3 needn't receive much attention. I do not have to evaluate whether Mozart's Symphony #40 is worth your time or not. But with these obscure pieces by a contemporary of Purcell, all three must be mentioned.

The first two go by quite easily - the playing, with an unusual trio of violin, bass viol and organ, is amazing. These are superlative performances that catch the ear and won't let go. The recording is intimate, so we can hear the viol's strings vibrate and the organ wheeze. Lovely! Great playing, gorgeous lush sound.

But the music itself is where this loses out. There is not enough range and variety in these pieces, so though each one is good, all of them together become a bit much. The same flavors, the same spices, the same temperatures lead to a somewhat repetitive banquet. There is a reason Matthew Locke is a relatively unknown composer.