The King’s Consort, Purcell: Twelve Sonatas Of Three Parts - album review

Download: Sonata 5 in A minor; Sonata 2 in B flat; Sonata 7 in E minor; Sonata 12 in D major

The King’s Consort

The King’s Consort follow their excellent album of Purcell’s posthumously-assembled Ten Sonatas Of Four Parts with this earlier collection of Twelve Sonatas Of Three Parts – the notionally absent part being the Italian innovation of additional basso continuo, although there’s certainly such a line operating here, usually on organ, which allows freer elaboration in the bass viol part, most notably in the “Sonata 2 in B flat”.

The wider interplay of string parts enables Purcell to explore more intriguing harmonies and counterpoints, with daring use of dissonance evident in a piece like the “Sonata 5 in A minor”, which opens with a deceptively simple descending line overlapping from instrument to instrument, followed by an Adagio which must have baffled contemporary listeners.

The performances are precise and the deft negotiations are subtly shaded to bring out shifts of emotion.