John Jenkins: The Virtuoso Consort (Division)
Silas Wollston (organ); Fretwork
Signum Classics SIGCD938 77:59 mins
Formed in 1986, British viol ensemble Fretwork enjoy an international reputation for stylistic versatility
in repertoire spanning five centuries. This release is their second for Signum Classics devoted to the music of 17th-century English composer John Jenkins (1592-1678). In this sumptuous celebration of
Jenkins’s contributions to the viol fantasia, the five members of Fretwork are joined by organist Silas Wollston.
The album opens with the three-movement D major Fantasia Suite (pairs of treble and bass viols with organ). A graceful and thoughtful Fantasia, an elegant Almain (Allemande) and a majestic Corant (Courante) demonstrate the ebullience of Jenkins’s dialogue between the viols.
Three works in the key of D minor acutely embody the profundity noted of this key by 17th-century musicians. In the G minor Fantasia Suite (treble and two bass viols) textural warmth and timbral depth are persuasively conveyed by Emilia Benjamin, Sam Stadlen and Richard Boothby. They weave melodic lines with virtuosity, harnessing the delicious interplay between dissonance and consonance. The D minor Fantasia Suite, described as a ‘masterpiece’ in Boothby’s eloquent liner notes, was first recorded by Fretwork in 1995 for Erato.
Their latest interpretation is even more dignified and compelling, and here, as throughout, Wollston is the perfect musical partner. Amidst such richness the bowed articulatory dexterity of the C major Fancy and Air Divisions (two trebles, one bass viol and organ) is just thrilling.
This magnificent album celebrates the eloquence and ingenuity of early tonal music, and confirms Fretwork’s prominence amongst its interpreters.