A first-ever complete recording for collections of Baroque chamber music which capture the elegance, formality and lively culture of London in the 1710s.
London in the early 18th century was a city animated by music: Italian opera dominated the newly-built theatres, French-style dances brought refinement to the salons, and the English cathedral tradition had fully adapted to a native style of text setting. It was from within this vibrant soundscape that William Babell (c.1690-1723) emerged - an English musician of remarkable versatility, whose keyboard brilliance and expressive chamber works captured the spirit of his place and time.
Babell’s first teacher was his father, a bassoonist in the orchestra of the Drury Lane Theatre. He rapidly followed in his father’s footsteps, playing in the private band of King George I, and being appointed organist of All Hallows, Bread Street, a position he held until his untimely death. His reputation as a keyboard virtuoso was widespread; Johann Mattheson extolled his organ playing as even superior to Handel’s.
As for his own music, its principal surviving remnants are these two collections of sonatas dating from 1716 and 1720. They were conceived for oboe or violin with continuo; the musicians of Cappella Musicale Enrico Stuart have taken a fairly liberal approach, by sharing the melody part in the different sonatas between violin, flute and oboe, which are supported by a rich continuo group of bassoon, cello and harpsichord or organ. Not the least attractive aspect of this solution is its variety across the sequence of 24 sonatas.
The influence of Arcangelo Corelli – the Roman violinist-composer whose Op. 5 sonatas (published in 1700) shaped much of 18th-century chamber style across Europe – is evident in Babell’s approach. Babell’s sonata structure – especially the slow-fast alternation, proportions of movements, and rhythmic gesture – bear the stamp of this Corellian model, though with English lightness and a flair for ornamentation. This arrangement not only showcases the instrumental diversity at the heart of the two volumes of sonatas, but also evokes the experience of an 18th century London salon, where violin, oboe, and flute might seamlessly succeed one another in an evening of chamber music.
