Francesco Mancini - Recorder Sonatas - Ensemble Tripla Concordia

The first half of this Brilliant edition I present here contains  recorder sonatas No 2-5, 7, 9, 11, 12  written by Neapolitan composer Francesco Mancini (1672-1737). During his lifetime Mancini was somewhat overshadowed by Alessandro Scarlatti and Gaetano Veneziano, however he was well known throughout Europe as a prolific writer of operas, canatats and oratorios. Writing instrumental music came in very much second for him - maybe that's why it sounds so fresh and unusual. The fast movements have almost rock drive, or as the Grove says more scientifically "the peculiarity of his instrumental writing can be seen in his sonatas, for example the rich harmonies accompanying the melodies and the contrapuntalism of the second movements, which are often almost proper fugues".

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Mathurin Forestier - Missa Baises Moy, Missa L'Homme Arme - Chicago a cappella

The only known fact about Mathurin Forestier (c. 1500-1535) is that there indeed had been a composer under this name - at least there are extant manuscripts with his supposed works. I say supposed because out of the two masses recorded on this disc one has been attributed also to Josquin Desprez (Baises Moy, based on the latters' chanson by the same name) and the other - L'Homme Arme - to Jean Mouton. At any rate, it is an honour for a composer to be confused with either of those two. Grove article below.
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Joan Baptista (Juan Bautista) Comes - Lamentationes Jeremiæ Prophetæ - Victoria Musicae

Juan Bautista - or Joan Baptista in Catalan - Comes was born around 1582 in Valencia and is considered among the greatest Catalan composers. His talents were recognized beyound his province borders also and in 1618 he was appointed a vicemaestro of the royal chapel in Madrid. However, unlike many an ambitious musuician he didn't appreciate the life in the capital and hankered to return to his home town - which he eventually did. Valencia repaid for his loyalty with money and honours.
The Lamentations of Jeremiah presented here sound very much in vein of the early baroque - that transitional Monteverdi-style which seemed to linger longer in Spain than it did in Italy - and France which leapt from Renaissance polyphony almost straight to its beloved grand motet. Personally I'm very partial to it - it retains all the spirituality and therapeutic harmony of the Renaissance polyphony while being easier to understand for our major-minor trained ear.
Below the cut is the Grove dictionary article on the composer.
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La Belle Danse (Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marin Marais, Muffat, Praetorius, Brade, Luigi Rossi) - Capriccio Stravagante, 24 Violons du Roy, Sempe

This anniversary album for Skip Sempe and his Capriccio Stravagante probably brings nothing essentially new - however, for me as a Lullyste it was of interest, particulary due to new recordings of the Superintendent's ouvertures. As Sempe stated in his interview, these ouvertures were all meant to convey different emotions and should therefore sound different. He did indeed make them different - not only from each other, but from other recordings of them too. Some of these experiments sound more curious than convincing (like the ouverture from Roland), but on the whole I rather liked the effect. The album also contains the most lyrical rendition of the passacaille from Armide I've ever heard (at least the first part of it) - even though lyricism wasn't quite Lully's forte here one may rather start to wonder whether it is indeed true.
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Jean-Baptiste Masse - Sonatas for two cellos, Book II - Brandywine Baroque

Jean-Baptiste Masse is one of those unfortunates who's been passed by even the Grove dictionary (and completely undeserved too). True, there is not much known about his life. The tentative dates of his birth and death are inferred indirectly from the publishing dates of his oevre and the payroll of Comédie Française where he worked in the orchestra. He was also a member of 24 Violons du Roy and hence among the most professional and best paid musicians in the kingdom.

France was known for its strong gamba school so the cello had to compete for the place of the main bass string instrument for quite some time. Masse is considered to be the first French composer to write for solo cello, although he did indicate that it could be replaced with gamba or even bassoon.

The second book presented here was dedicated to Monsieur Gaudion de le Grange, councillor to the Parliament and apparently the composer's patron. The fragments from the first book, dedicated in turn to the colleagues from Comédie Française can be found on the album Les Prétentions du Violoncelle recorded by Ricercar Consort.
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