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Reviewer:
David Vickers It is tempting to speculate about what kind of music Charles II heard at his coronation at Westminster Abbey on St George’s Day 1661. This programme is a conjectural fantasy that sometimes contradicts the known facts (which is acknowledged in Greta Haenen’s bookletnote). Trumpet fanfares by Marin Mersenne and Girolamo Fantini herald the king’s entry to London; austerity doesn’t permit Wim Becu to field the 17 trumpeters Charles II had at his disposal but Oltremontano’s four players make a fine noise. Matthew Locke’s five-part suite for the reconstituted royal wind band, described by the composer as ‘For His Majesty’s Sackbuts and Cornetts’, were played during a triumph procession on the day before the coronation; it is performed here with nuanced shading and flawless technique.
The coronation service featured William Child’s anthem O Lord, grant the King a long life, sung here with bold authority by the 10 singers of Psallentes and doubled vividly by cornetts and sackbuts – but in 1661 it was sung by the combined choirs of the Chapel Royal and Westminster Abbey. Henry Lawes’s Zadok the Priest was definitely performed in 1661 but is not included here (there is a recording by Simon Preston). Some artistic licence stretches credibility too far. Pelham Humfrey was only 14 years old in 1661 and his setting of The King shall rejoice was actually written for Charles II’s birthday some years later; moreover, the instrumental parts are for strings rather than the cornetts and sackbuts on offer here, although its grand conclusion, featuring Bart Rodyns’s gutsy organ-playing, sets the seal on some splendid music-making. Pepys wrote that the musical entertainment at the post-coronation banquet in Westminster Hall was played by the court string band (the ‘24 Violins’) but instead Oltremontano’s brass players provide a selection of pavans, galliards and fantazias. The aromatic tint of Westminster Abbey’s bells and library soundscapes (horses, crowds of people, and someone sounding like Brian Blessed shouting ‘The King!’) all seem a bit pointless when this album clearly isn’t a credible reconstruction of events – but on their own terms these excellent performances are highly enjoyable.
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