Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

An English connection

2010; Oxford University Press; Volume: 38; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/em/caq094

1741-7260

Jasmin Cameron,

Music History and Culture

This review covers an eclectic mix of discs, ranging from stage entertainment and music for solo viola da gamba, to sonatas intended as drawing room entertainment and full-blown concertos. All boast an English connection, as works by lesser-known English composers, or those written with the 18th-century London musical scene in mind. The English stage jig (Hyperion CDA67754, rec 2008, 78′), performed by the City Waites and Lucie Skeaping, is an unusual disc. 16th- and 17th-century stage jigs were rather more than just a type of dance: they were an informal, rough-and-ready musical entertainment, usually the ‘aftershow’ to the serious dramatic productions of the day. Many of these stage shows were reliant on boisterous comedy, featuring their own brand of stock characters (tricksters, unfaithful wives, country bumpkins, cuckolds and so forth) and with subjects ranging from the lewd and satirical to the outrageously base. Others were formatted as song and...