The splendours of a great house, its vistas and grand entrances, are captured in this programme of music from the Baroque to the Romantic, from ceremonial trumpets to drawing room virtuosity.
1 Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Te Deum - Prelude
2 George Frideric Handel
The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
3 Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto Grosso in G minor RV 578 - Allegro
4 Georg Philip Telemann
Concerto in D major for trumpet and two oboes - Allegro
5 Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto in D minor for two oboes RV 535 - Allegro
6 Johan Sebastian Bach
Suite in B minor BWV 1067 - Badinerie
7 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata in C major K545 - Andante
8 Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for mandolin in C major RV 425 - Allegro
9 Franz Schubert
Impromptu in E flat major D899/2
10 Franz Schubert
Impromptu in A flat major D899/4
11 George Frideric Handel
Concerto Grosso in B flat major op.3/2: Vivace - Largo
12 Thomas Albinoni
Concerto in C major for two oboes op.9/9 - Allegro
13 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata in C major K545 - Rondo
Antonio Vivaldi: Spring from The Four Seasons
14 Allegro
15 Largo
16 Allegro
17 Georg Philip Telemann
Concerto in D major for trumpet and two oboes - Allegro
European Union Baroque Orchestra directed by Roy Goodman (1-6, 11-12, 17)
Martin Souter (7, 9-10, 13)
Camerata Instrumentale (8)
Papel Popv, RTV Orchestra St Petersburg (14-16)
Cover image: Kingston Lacy, Dorset James Mortimer/National Trust Photo Library
Programme notes by Martin Moritz
CCL CDG1104
P & C 2004 Classical Communications Ltd
www.thegiftofmusic.com
Made in Great Britain
Inside book:
Music for a Great House
An historic house is, strictly speaking, one of about 500 large properties built in England between the mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th century, as well as converted abbeys and other church property (after the dissolution of the monasteries). They are usually distinguished from true 'castles', being of a later date and built purely as residences. These houses became a status symbol for the great families of England who competed with each other to provide hospitality for the Royal Household. Famous architects and landscape artists such as Robert Adam, Sir Charles Barry, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir John Vanbrugh, Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton were employed to incorporate new styles into the buildings. Great art and furniture collections were built up and displayed in the houses. World War 11 changed the fortunes of many houses and their owners, and now there remains a curious mix of living museums, part-ruined houses and castles, and grand family estates.
An historic house can, of course, be a stately home, the birthplace of a famous person, or a house with an interesting history. However many stately homes are managed and owned by private individuals or trusts. The costs of running a stately home are legendary. Many owners rent out their homes for use as film and television sets as a means of extra income, thus many of them are familiar sights to people who have never visited them in person. As examples, Wrotham Park, in Herfordshire, provided the perfect location for the film 'Gosford Park' and the magnificent Castle Howard was the perfect back-cloth for the TV dramatisation of 'Brideshead Revisited'.
Set in an elevated position, against the Howardian Hills in the North Riding of Yorkshire, Castle Howard's breathtaking façade is visible for miles around. It is the largest house in Yorkshire and has been the home of the Howard family since the seventeenth century. Built for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, Castle Howard was designed by Sir John Vanburgh, whose first project this was, the second being Blenheim Palace.
Robert Adam was a remarkable Scotsman who had so much influence on Georgian art and architecture on both sides of the English-Scottish border. His first successes were the Admiralty Arch in Whitehall and the interior apartments at Hatchlands. He insisted on designing everything himself, right down to the minutest detail. The result is work that has an overall sense of unity or flow. He moved beyond the Roman classical style and borrowed heavily from Greek, Byzantine and Italian Baroque influences. Some of his best surviving work can be seen at Syon House, Kedleston Hall, Harewood House, Kenwood, Osterley and the mock medieval Culzean Castle.