Boyce: Pindar's Ode; New Year Ode 1774

Editorial Reviews
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William Boyce (1711-79) occupies a fascinating space in music history just at the point where the heady late Baroque realized its days were numbered and the lighter, breezier manner of the nascent Classical style seized its chance. But Boyce's music is anything but uncertain or transitional. The self-confidence of the age finds its perfect expression in his cosmopolitan high-Baroque style, superficially Handelian, if less ostentatiously grand. Melodically, Boyce embraced the airiness of the new galant style, imbuing it with something quintessentially British in his square-toed dances, quirky cadential figures and pithy, memorable turns of phrase. His orchestral music has been well known for some time, but thanks to Hyperion's pioneering English Orpheus series and the recent attentions of Graham Lea-Cox and the Choir of New College, Oxford, Boyce's impressive achievement as a composer of large-scale choral works is just coming into focus. This is the fourth and sadly the last of Cox's survey of Boyce's odes, oratorios and masques for ASV Gaudeamus. The series has been a triumph: the British Baroque has never sounded so good. The main offering here is the early Pindar's Ode, written in 1740 for one of London's first musical 'clubs', the Apollo Academy, for which Boyce also composed the Ode for St Cecilia's Day and the oratorio, David's Lamentation (reviewed, respectively, in the May 2000 and March 2001 issues). Pindar's Ode polishes up very nicely; it is given here in the revised version of 1741 prepared for a performance by the Dublin Philharmonic Society and the same extraordinary soloists for whom Handel wrote Messiah. There are some marvellously expressive arias, including 'Pious Mariners', richly served up by Michael George, and a fine 'rage' aria ('Angry flames') which Charles Daniels rattles through with great gusto. Treble Patrick Burrowes is less secure, though, than on earlier volumes in the series. From his twilight years we also get Boyce's Ode for the New Year (1774), the 34th such piece he wrote for George II and George III during his long tenure as Master of the King's Musick. Ephemeral it may have been (destined for just a single rehearsal and performance), but Boyce didn't skimp. Just like Purcell in his court odes, Boyce transcends the limitations of the text, and in the final aria, 'Myriads they see', creates something of lasting value (nicely sung by Andrew Johnson). Enthusiastically performed; enthusiastically recommended. Simon Heighes

Boyce: Pindar's Ode; New Year Ode 1774, Music, Michael George, William Boyce, Graham Lea-Cox, Christopher Josey, Patrick Burrowes, Charles Daniels, Choral, Choral Music, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Early Music / Chant
Boyce: Pindar's Ode; New Year Ode 1774 /Choir of New College, Oxford * Hanover Band * Lea-Cox
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    		Boyce: Pindar's Ode; New Year Ode 1774 /Choir of New College, Oxford * Hanover Band * Lea-Cox
    Oxford Choir of New College
    Manufacturer: Gaudeamus
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

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    Similar Items:
    1. Boyce: David's Lamentation
    2. Boyce: Ode for St. Cecilia's Day
    3. Boyce: Secular Masque, etc.

    ASIN: B00005RT57
    Release Date: 2002-01-22

    Tracks:

    1. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Overture: I Largo Andante - Allegro Assai - The Hanover Band
    2. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Overture: II Vivace - The Hanover Band
    3. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Overture: III Presto - The Hanover Band
    4. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Recitative: Gentle Lyre Begin The Strain - Patrick Burrowes
    5. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Chorus: Musick Rules The World Above - Edward Higginbottom
    6. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Aria: Soft'ned By The Pow'r Of Sound - Patrick Burrowes
    7. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Chorus Refrain: Musick Rules The World Above - Edward Higginbottom
    8. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Recitative: See, Mars Awak'd By Loud Alarms - Christopher Josey
    9. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Aria: Hark! The Pleasing, Pleasing Lutes - Christopher Josey
    10. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Chorus Refrain: Musick Rules The World Above - Edward Higginbottom
    11. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Recitative: Verse, Gentle Verse - Charles Daniels
    12. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Arioso: Arioso: In Fires Of Hell - Charles Daniels
    13. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Aria: Angry Flames Like Scarlet Glowing - Charles Daniels
    14. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Aria: In Fair Sicilia's Rich Domain - Christopher Josey
    15. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Recitative: Hail Thou Everlasting Jove - Michael George
    16. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Aria: The Pious Mariner - Michael George
    17. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Recitative: So E'er The Muse Disus'd To Sing - Charles Daniels
    18. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Duet: Gentle Wishes, Chaste Desires - Michael George
    19. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Recitative: When Virtue Bleeds Beneath The Laws - Christoppher Josey
    20. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Recitative: Kindling With Heroic Fire - Patrick Burrowes
    21. Pindar's Ode (Dublin Version, 1741): Chorus: Fair As Summer's Evening Skies - Edward Higginbottom
    22. Ode For The New Year, 1774: Overture: I. Spiritoso - William Boyce
    23. Ode For The New Year, 1774: Overture: II. Vivace - Pavlo Beznosiuk
    24. Ode For The New Year, 1774: Recitative: Pass But A Few Short Fleeting Years - Michael George
    25. Ode For The New Year, 1774: Arioso: And All That Pomp - Michael George
    26. Ode For The New Year, 1774: Recitative: True, Tyrant: Wherefore Then Does Pride - Christopher Josey
    27. Ode For The New Year, 1774: Aria: Say, Why Do Millions Bleed At Thy Command - Christopher Josey
    28. Ode For The New Year, 1774: Duet: Not So, Do Britain's King's Behold - Michael George
    29. Ode For The New Year, 1774: Aria: Myriads They See - Andrew Johnson
    30. Ode For The New Year, 1774: Nor Do They Idly Drop A Tear - Edward Higginbottom

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