Output details

Odes, Songs, Sonatas & Divine, Moral, Entertaining Music by Barnabas Gunn, John Pixell, Jeremiah Clark, Joseph Harris and Richard Mudge: CD recording, Musical & Amicable Society, directed by Martin Perkins

This CD performance and recording project was carried out from June to September 2012 and was released as a commercial CD in March 2013 by Barn Cottage Records, known for the emphasis on, and skill in recording, 17th- and 18th-century music. The innovative project, combining musicological and historically informed performance expertise, focuses on regional music-making and musicians associated with Birmingham and the Midlands, living in the second half of the eighteenth century. These include organists at Birmingham Cathedral, Barnabas Gunn, Joseph Harris and Jeremiah Clark, and two important amateur composer clergymen John Pixell and Richard Mudge. All of the music on the CD is recorded here for the first time, having been edited for performance by Perkins from original eighteenth-century prints and manuscripts. The music was sourced from a variety of libraries and archives, including the British Library, University of Birmingham and private collections. Two of the works edited (Six Solos by Barnabas Gunn) have now also been published by Edition HH <http://www.editionhh.co.uk/shop/item.aspx?itemid=574>. The project also involved artistic direction of the group of eight musicians during the rehearsals and recording sessions, calling upon Perkins’ specialist skills as director from the harpsichord. Perkins, who is Programme Co-ordinator of Early Music at the Conservatoire and curator of its Historical Instrument Collection (see Perkins_01), performed in all works in either solo or accompaniment roles.