Jan Pieters Sweelinck: Works For Keyboard 2 (Chaconne Audio CD)

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)

Paduana Lachrymae – Keyboard works, Volume 2

Robert Woolley (harpsichord and virginal)

Gramophone wrote on the first volume in this series: ‘This generous disc of keyboard works falls squarely on the shoulders of the kaleidoscopic organ of the Pieterskerk in Leiden, Holland, rather than dividing the spoils between virginals, harpsichords and organs. Those who have encountered the supreme artistry of this composer at his best will relish the clarity of voicing and judicious registrations.’

As well as being one of the most famous organists and teachers of his time, Sweelinck was the last and most important composer of the musically rich golden era of the Netherlanders. His output comprises seventy works for keyboard, which represent some of the most richly imaginative music of the period, yet none was published during in lifetime.

Robert Woolley has a large discography on Chandos, both as a soloist and as a member of The Purcell Quartet, the ensemble he co-founded in 1983. An internationally regarded authority on the music of this period, he broadcasts regularly for the BBC and has performed and recorded on many historic instruments. On this recording, he plays two instruments: a modern copy by Malcolm Rose of the Lodewijk Theewes claviorgan of 1579, a harpsichord-organ combination which has belonged to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London since 1890; and a rarely heard virginal, or muselar, by the firm Adlam Burnett, based on an instrument of Ioannes Ruckers from 1611 in the Finchcocks collection.

None of the music in this varied and rewarding programme is well represented in the catalogue