Catalogue

Summary:

“Perkins uses a 1764 Kirckman harpsichord from the Royal Academy of Music, and while it can have a muscular tone, his skilful command of texture (along with Nares’s) ensures that it never tires the ear, while his sound stylistic sense makes the best of the music’s robust eloquence. A suite by Handel, placed halfway through the programme and played on the lighter-toned “Royal” Shudi harpsichord built for the Prince of Wales in 1740, provides a subtle gilding to this thoughtful and well presented tribute” – Gramophone

“Overshadowed in his day by the towering presence of Handel, James Nares here emerges as an exhilaratingly inspired Baroque master in his own right” – Classic FM

“This is a very fine debut solo recording from Perkins who has been increasingly prominent as a harpsichord player in recent times. He displays great panache in the opening bravura prelude and keeps this high standard throughout, helped by a very secure technique and a real sensibility for this music” – Early Music Review

From performances at the Handel Halle Festival to a solo at the Paris Fashion Show for Alexander McQueen, Julian Perkins pursues a diverse and demanding career. Primarily a Baroque and early Classical music specialist, he performs with leading singers, ensembles and opera companies in the UK and abroad.

Here he offers the first complete recording of James Nares’s eight brilliant harpsichord setts (suites) from 1747. Organist of the Chapel Royal, James Nares epitomized the late English Baroque style, one which takes after the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti and Thomas Arne.

Thanks to the generosity of The Royal Collection, much of this music was recorded using the Queen’s rare and newly-restored Shudi harpsichord at Kew Palace. Built in 1740, this harpsichord is one of Shudi’s earliest and most lavish instruments. It is perhaps the only harpsichord whose quills are taken from the ravens of the Tower of London. Julian Perkins also plays on an original Kirckman harpsichord, generously loaned to the Royal Academy of Music by the Beare family.

Tracklist:

JAMES NARES (1715–1783)

Eight Setts of Lessons for the Harpsichord (London, 1747)
Dedicated to the Earl of Abingdon

No. 1 in G major (8:07)
1. Prelude (1:45)
2. Allemand (2:17)
3. Minuet and 3 Variations (4:05)

No. 2 in D major (7:18)
4. Allegro (2:22)
5. Larghetto (1:32)
6. Allegro (1:15)
7. Jigg (2:09)

No. 3 in B-flat major (9:22)
8. Fuga (2:15)
9. Largo (1:25)
10. Presto (4:29)
11. Gavot (1:13)

No. 4 in F major (8:26)
12. Allegro (3:45)
13. Andante (2:37)
14. Jigg (2:04)

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)

Suite in D minor, HWV 447 (8:54)
15. Allemande (2:38)
16.Courante (1:55)
17. Sarabande (3:03)
18. Gigue (1:18)

JAMES NARES

No. 5 in A major (7:51)
19. Allegro (2:58)
20. Larghetto (2:35)
21. Allegro Spiritoso (2:18)

No. 6 in E major (7:16)
22. Allemand (4:15)
23. Courant (1:26)
24. Gavot (1:35)

No. 7 (6:52)
25. Presto (1:54)
26. Fuga (3:02)
27. Jigg (1:56)

No. 8 in A major (11:10)
28. Allegro (4:00)
29. Allemand (3:15)
30. Gig (3:55)

Total duration: 75:56

Recorded 12–14 November 2007 in The Queen’s Drawing Room at Kew Palace, London
Produced and engineered by Adrian Hunter