The Muses Restor'd Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque

• George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759): Violin Sonata in D Major, Op. 1 No. 13, HWV 371:
• 1 Handel: Violin Sonata in D Major, Op. 1 No. 13, HWV 371: I. Affetuoso 03:17
• 2 Handel: Violin Sonata in D Major, Op. 1 No. 13, HWV 371: II. Allegro 02:46
• 3 Handel: Violin Sonata in D Major, Op. 1 No. 13, HWV 371: III. Largo 01:58
• 4 Handel: Violin Sonata in D Major, Op. 1 No. 13, HWV 371: IV. Allegro 02:30
• William Lawes (1602 - 1645): Fantasia-Suite No. 8 in D Major:
• 5 Lawes: Fantasia-Suite No. 8 in D Major: I. Fantazia 06:09
• 6 Lawes: Fantasia-Suite No. 8 in D Major: II. Almaine "La goutte" 04:13
• 7 Lawes: Fantasia-Suite No. 8 in D Major: III. Galliard 02:13
• John Blow (1649 - 1708): Ground in G minor:
• 8 Blow: Ground in G minor 03:28
• Matthew Locke (1621 - 1677): Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C Minor-Major:
• 9 Locke: Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C Minor-Major: I. Fantazie 01:20
• 10 Locke: Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C Minor-Major: II. Pavan 03:36
• 11 Locke: Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C Minor-Major: III. Ayre 01:45
• 12 Locke: Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C Minor-Major: IV. Courante 01:04
• 13 Locke: Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C Minor-Major: V. Saraband 00:27
• 14 Locke: Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C Minor-Major: VI. Ayre 01:52
• 15 Locke: Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C Minor-Major: VII. Courante 01:03
• 16 Locke: Little Consort in Two Parts for Severall Friends in C Minor-Major: VIII. Saraband 01:25
• Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695): Sonata in G Minor, Z. 780:
• 17 Purcell: Sonata in G Minor, Z. 780: I. Adagio - Allegro - Largo - Vivace 07:08
• Johann Schop (1590 - 1667): Lachrimae:
• 18 Schop: Lachrimae 04:02
• John Jenkins (1592 - 1678): Fantasia-Suite in A Minor, VdGS group IV, No. 1:
• 19 Jenkins: Fantasia-Suite in A Minor, VdGS group IV, No. 1: I. Fantasia 05:11
• 20 Jenkins: Fantasia-Suite in A Minor, VdGS group IV, No. 1: II. Air 04:00
• 21 Jenkins: Fantasia-Suite in A Minor, VdGS group IV, No. 1: III. Courante 02:06
• Thomas Baltzar (1630 - 1663): The Division Violin:
• 22 Baltzar: The Division Violin: Prelude 03:14
• Francesco Barsanti (1690 - 1775): A Collection of Old Scots Tunes:
• 23 Barsanti: A Collection of Old Scots Tunes: Lochaber 01:21
• Henry Purcell: A New Irish Tune, Z. 646:
• 24 Purcell: A New Irish Tune, Z. 646: "Lilliburlero" 01:18
• James Oswald (1710 - 1769): A Curious Collection of Scots Tunes:
• 25 Oswald: A Curious Collection of Scots Tunes: Alloway House 01:26
• Francesco Geminiani (1687 - 1762): Two Airs for a Violin or German Flute, Violin, Cello & Harpsichord:
• 26 Geminiani: Two Airs for a Violin or German Flute, Violin, Cello & Harpsichord: Auld Bob Morrice. Affetuoso - Allegro 03:24
• Richard Jones (1680 - 1744): Chamber Airs for a Violin and Thorough Bass Op. 2, No. 4 in A Minor:
• 27 Jones: Chamber Airs for a Violin and Thorough Bass Op. 2, No. 4 in A Minor: I. Preludio. Largo 02:36
• 28 Jones: Chamber Airs for a Violin and Thorough Bass Op. 2, No. 4 in A Minor: II. Allegro 03:29
• 29 Jones: Chamber Airs for a Violin and Thorough Bass Op. 2, No. 4 in A Minor: III. Giga. Allegro 02:10
• Total Runtime 01:20:31

Info for The Muses Restor'd

Award-winning Baroque violinist Rachel Podger takes the resurgence of the Arts in England post-1660 as the compelling inspiration for her new album, T he Muses Restor’d . Adopting its title as its theme, Rachel and her vivacious Brecon Baroque take the listener on a journey of captivating violin-led chamber music from Jacobean to Early Georgian England. Ranging from the gentle intimacy of consort idioms to the full-blown instrumental virtuosity of the evolving Baroque period, this album uncovers little known glories of English instrumental music and its influences.

This refined and intimately chiselled chamber music celebrates a rich tradition where the violin joins a plethora of keyboards, lutes, viol and continuo cello reinstating these sonatas, fantasies, suites, grounds and popular tunes to the mainstream of English cultural life of the time. Together with four musicians from Brecon Baroque, Rachel Podger performs works by Handel, Lawes, Blow, Locke, Purcell, Schop, Jenkins, Baltzar and Jones.

“This oeuvre provides a deeply satisfying kaleidoscope of musical expression over a century of British musical life." (Rachel Podger)

Rachel Podger, violin
Brecon Baroque

Rachel Podger
“the unsurpassed British glory of the baroque violin” (The Times), has established herself as a leading interpreter of the Baroque and Classical music periods. She was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Prize in October 2015, Gramophone Artist of the Year 2018, and Ambassador for REMA’s Early Music Day 2020. A creative programmer, she is the founder and Artistic Director of Brecon Baroque Festival and her ensemble Brecon Baroque. Rachel is Patron for the Continuo Foundation.

Following an exciting and innovative new collaboration, A Guardian Angel, with the ‘impeccable’ (Gramophone) vocal ensemble VOCES8, Rachel was thrilled to be one of the Artists in Residence at the renowned Wigmore Hall throughout the 2019/2020 season. The series features Rachel in all-Bach performances as a soloist and with Brecon Baroque. Alongside this, Rachel and Christopher Glynn recorded the world premiere of three previously unfinished Mozart sonatas which were completed by Royal Academy of Music Professor Timothy Jones for release in March 2021.

Rachel featured in The VOCES8 Foundation’s LIVE From London festival in a new advent version of A Guardian Angel. She performed solo Bach for Gramophone Magazine’s Winners’ Digital Gala, appeared in Bitesize Proms, BOZAR at Home, Living Room Live, Baroque at the Edge, and a collaborative disc by Musicians For Musicians Many Voices on a Theme of Isolation. Rachel presented BBC Radio 3’s Inside Music and directed a new arrangement by Chad Kelly, The Goldberg Variations Reimagined. Upcoming engagements include recording a selection of Beethoven sonatas and performances of Mozart and Beethoven with Christopher Glynn, a return to Philharmonia Baroque and San Francisco Early Music, a Four Seasons collaboration with Academy of Ancient Music, and further performances of Bach Cello Suites, The Goldberg Variations Reimagined, and A Guardian Angel.

Rachel is a dedicated educator and holds an honorary position at both the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. She also has a relationship with The Juilliard School in New York.

Brecon Baroque
The dynamic ensemble Brecon Baroque consists of an international line-up of world-class virtuosi in the period-instrument world. Together they specialise in one-to-a-part repertoire including Vivaldi, Biber, and Bach that brings them into the spotlight alongside their director Rachel Podger.

Highlights have included Wigmore Hall as part of Rachel Podger’s Artists in Residence in 19/20, Edinburgh International Festival, tours of continental Europe and Japan, and performances at their very own Brecon Baroque Festival which went virtual in 2020. Future engagements include performances and a recording of Chad Kelly’s new arrangement, The Goldberg Variations Reimagined, written especially for Rachel and Brecon Baroque.

Rachel and Brecon Baroque’s debut CD, Bach Violin Concertos, attracted universal critical acclaim and was quickly hailed as a benchmark recording of these works. The complete recording of Vivaldi L’Estro Armonico concertos won the 2016 BBC Music Magazine Concerto Award and Biber Rosary Sonatas won the 2016 Baroque Instrumental Gramophone Award. Additional disc releases include Bach Art of Fugue (2016), Grandissima Gravita (2017), and Vivaldi Le Quattro Stagioni (2018).

Booklet for The Muses Restor'd