Baroque Recorder Art in England between 1685 and 1740
In the period between 1685 and 1740, in England the recorder enjoyed extraordinary popularity with its outstanding cultural center of London. For the London publisher John Walsh alone, the most productive music company of the baroque period, editions for recorder from the early 1690s onwards account for over a sixth of all published works! While these publications were primarily aimed at amateurs, the multi-piece baroque recorder brought to England by French court musicians in 1673 was also played by outstanding virtuosos in concerts in opera houses and theaters. These were primarily professional musicians from England, France, Italy and Germany. The newly emerging public concert business was particularly attractive to them as it offered them an economic livelihood outside of courtly structures.
All these basic prerequisites led to a unique musical variety in England in which the Italian and French styles not only existed alongside the British tradition, but in which Italian, French and English elements with different emphases were also profitably mixed together – a fascinating plurality which is reflected in the compilation of works on this CD.
Founded in 2021, the ensemble Acanthus Baroque is composed of the recorder player Magdalena Spielmann, the violinist Christophe Mourault, the harpsichordist Sobin Jo and the cellist Szczepan Dembiński. As a soloist, too, Magdalena Spielmann performs internationally. Her personal focus is on the interpretation of early music according to historically informed performance practice, whereby she also frequently realizes projects with contemporary music.