Richard Boothby TELEMANN Solo Fantasias

One of the greatest finds of the 21st century for the early music world, Telemann’s 12 Fantasias for Viola da Gamba were considered lost until the discovery of an original print in a private collection in Germany in 2015. Perhaps some of the composer’s finest work for solo instrument, they are described by soloist Richard Boothby as being “... by turns virtuosic and expressive,Telemann usesall the techniques of the instrument to create satisfyingly complete Fantasias that are full of diversity.”One of the UK’s leading exponents of early music, Richard Boothby founded the Purcell Quartet in 1984 and was a founder member of Fretwork in 1985. Since then his career has been bound up with these two groups with whom he records and tours; and through whom he plays the broadest range of repertory for the instrument from the earliest music to the latest contemporary music commissioned for viols.

As you’d expect, the music is pre-eminently personable, eclectic, adroitly crafted, and gambists have rallied to the cause…Boothby is alive to their confiding intimacy and made-in-the-moment fluidity…Just occasionally a pinched note jars, and it’s easy to be wrong-footed by the phrasing at the start of the D major, but they’re small quibbles in a disc instinct with affectionate insights. (BBC Music Magazine)

Fretwork JOHN JENKINS Complete Four-Part Consort Music

These four-part fantasias pre-date the viol fantasias of Henry Purcell by a few decades (it is not known exactly when they were composed), and it is likely that those who enjoy Purcell's works will likewise want to hear these lesser-known examples. Yet John Jenkins, who worked among the aristocracy but apparently had no court position, had a style of his own, and Fretwork catches it in this beautiful recording. Jenkins had neither the Mozartian melodic gift of Purcell nor much of the bent toward chromatic experimentation that was common through the tradition of viol music. But there's a kind of balance between knowledge and expressiveness, between what Mozart would call an appeal to Kenner (connoisseurs) and to Liebhaber (enthusiasts), that draws you in and justifies performing all these works at a stretch -- two CDs' worth -- even though they were never intended to be played this way. Some of the fantasies begin with single lines and have the flavor of Bach fugues, an impression strengthened by the combination of complex polyphony and strong expressiveness. This is intense music that may never be for everyone, but you may find it addictive. (James Manheim)