Greene: Overtures, Lessons & Voluntaries
Composer
Maurice Greene, William Boyce
Artist
Fernando De Luca harpsichord
Format
4 CD
Cat. number
97637
EAN code
5063758976374
Release
July 2026
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About this release
A first-ever complete recording for keyboard collections which capture the elegance and cosmopolitan style of Georgian-era English music.
Maurice Greene (1696-1755) belongs to the generation that followed Henry Purcell and preceded Handel. Becoming organist of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1719, and in 1735 organist and composer to the Chapel Royal, he wrote a good deal of church music which is still in use today: memorably simple but effective anthems such as Thou visitest the earth and Lord, let me know mine end.
Much less well known – and most of it previously unrecorded – is Greene’s corpus of instrumental music. Published in 1745, his Six Overtures in Seven Parts alternate a slow and solemn French-style overture with fugal Allegros and elegant dance movements such as Minuets, Gavottes or Airs. The original orchestral scores have recently attracted a recording: Fernando De Luca has made his own arrangements for solo harpsichord, following a long-standing practice and retaining the essential exuberance of the Overtures while inflecting them with refined dynamic shading.
Rarer still are the 15 keyboard ‘Lessons’: Italianate suites which bear witness to a transition from the contrapuntal Baroque style to a more Galant idiom, under the influence of Italian exemplars such as Corelli and Geminiani, as well as the seductive charms of French culture which captivated the upper end of Georgian culture and society.
Listening
Track list
Disk 1
1 Maurice Greene: Overture I in D Major: I. Allegro assai
2 Maurice Greene: Overture I in D Major: II. Andante
3 Maurice Greene: Overture I in D Major: III. Vivace
4 Maurice Greene: Overture II in G Major: I. [Andante] – Allegro
5 Maurice Greene: Overture II in G Major: II. Andante
6 Maurice Greene: Overture II in G Major: III. Allegro
7 Maurice Greene: Overture III in C Major: I. [Andante]
8 Maurice Greene: Overture III in C Major: II. Allegro assai
9 Maurice Greene: Overture III in C Major: III. Allegro ma non troppo
10 Maurice Greene: Overture IV in E Major: I. Con spirito
11 Maurice Greene: Overture IV in E Major: II. Allegro
12 Maurice Greene: Overture IV in E Major: III. Moderato allegro
13 Maurice Greene: Overture V in D Major: I. Allegro
14 Maurice Greene: Overture V in D Major: II. Andante vivace
15 Maurice Greene: Overture V in D Major: III. Presto
16 Maurice Greene: Overture VI in E-Flat Major: I. Con spirito
17 Maurice Greene: Overture VI in E-Flat Major: II. Allegro
18 Maurice Greene: Overture VI in E-Flat Major: III. Moderato presto
Disk 2
1 Maurice Greene: Lesson I in G Major: I. Allegro
2 Maurice Greene: Lesson I in G Major: II. Allegro
3 Maurice Greene: Lesson I in G Major: III. Vivace
4 Maurice Greene: Lesson I in G Major: IV. Allegro
5 Maurice Greene: Lesson II in D Major: I. Allegro
6 Maurice Greene: Lesson II in D Major: II. Andante
7 Maurice Greene: Lesson II in D Major: III. Allegro
8 Maurice Greene: Lesson III in G Minor: I. Vivace
9 Maurice Greene: Lesson III in G Minor: II. Allegro
10 Maurice Greene: Lesson III in G Minor: III. Tempo di gavotta
11 Maurice Greene: Lesson IV in C Minor: I. Presto
12 Maurice Greene: Lesson IV in C Minor: II. Vivace
13 Maurice Greene: Lesson IV in C Minor: III. Allegro
14 Maurice Greene: Lesson IV in C Minor: IV. Allegro
15 Maurice Greene: Lesson V in F Major: I. Allegro
16 Maurice Greene: Lesson V in F Major: II. Andante vivace
17 Maurice Greene: Lesson V in F Major: III. Allegro
18 Maurice Greene: Lesson VI in B-Flat Major: I. Allegro
19 Maurice Greene: Lesson VI in B-Flat Major: II. Minueto Allegro – Vivace (da capo)
20 Maurice Greene: Lesson VII in F Major: I. Molto allegro
21 Maurice Greene: Lesson VII in F Major: II. Allegro
22 Maurice Greene: Lesson VII in F Major: III. Andante
23 Maurice Greene: Lesson VII in F Major: IV. Allegro
24 Maurice Greene: Lesson VIII in D Minor: I. Aria con variationi
Disk 3
1 Maurice Greene: Lesson IX in F Major: I. Allegro
2 Maurice Greene: Lesson IX in F Major: II. Andante
3 Maurice Greene: Lesson IX in F Major: III. Allegro
4 Maurice Greene: Lesson X in A Minor: I. Allegro
5 Maurice Greene: Lesson X in A Minor: II. Vivace
6 Maurice Greene: Lesson X in A Minor: III. Molto allegro
7 Maurice Greene: Lesson XI in A Major: I. Aria con variationi
8 Maurice Greene: Lesson XI in A Major: II. Andante
9 Maurice Greene: Lesson XI in A Major: III. Allegro
10 Maurice Greene: Lesson XI in A Major: IV. Allegro
11 Maurice Greene: Lesson XII in E Major: I. Allegro
12 Maurice Greene: Lesson XII in E Major: II. Vivace
13 Maurice Greene: Lesson XII in E Major: III. Aria con variationi
14 Maurice Greene: Lesson XIII in E-Flat Major: I. Allegro
15 Maurice Greene: Lesson XIII in E-Flat Major: II. Vivace
16 Maurice Greene: Lesson XIII in E-Flat Major: III. Allegro
17 Maurice Greene: Lesson XIII in E-Flat Major: IV. Allegro
18 Maurice Greene: Lesson XIV in C Major: I. Allegro
19 Maurice Greene: Lesson XIV in C Major: II. Vivace
20 Maurice Greene: Lesson XIV in C Major: III. Allegro
21 Maurice Greene: Lesson XV in F Major: I. Allegro
22 Maurice Greene: Lesson XV in F Major: II. Allegro
23 Maurice Greene: Lesson XV in F Major: III. Allegro
Disk 4
1 William Boyce: Voluntary I in A Major. Andante – Vivace
2 William Boyce: Voluntary II in F Minor. Largo – Andante
3 William Boyce: Voluntary III in A Minor. Largo – Andante
4 William Boyce: Voluntary IV in G Minor. Grave – Andante
5 William Boyce: Voluntary V in G Major. Andante – Vivace
6 William Boyce: Voluntary VI in B-Flat Major. Andante – Vivace
7 William Boyce: Voluntary VII in E-Flat Major. Largo – Vivace
8 William Boyce: Voluntary VIII in C Minor. Largo – Vivace
9 William Boyce: Voluntary IX in E Minor. Largo – Andante
10 William Boyce: Voluntary X in D Minor. Largo – Andante
11 William Boyce: Voluntary XI in B Minor. Largo – Vivace
12 William Boyce: Voluntary XII in E Major. Largo – Vivace