European Community Baroque Orchestra, Roy Goodman, Andrew Manze - Pieter Hellendaal: Sei Concerti Grossi Op. 3 (1993)

The "Concerto grosso" was eminently popular in Europe at the beginning of the 18th century, Arcangelo Corelli having set the trend with his Opus 6 published around 1710, but probably written much earlier. The main attraction seems to have been the possibilities opened up by having two groups of musicians in dialogue with one another. Like all other fashions, this one passed fairly quickly everywhere - except in Britain, where composers such as Handel and Avison breathed new life into a form which was, judging by the number of printed editions, well able to generate not inconsiderable turnover. Thus it was that the Dutch violinist-composer Pieter Hellendaal, a pupil of Tartini, could publish as late as 1758 a set of concerti grossi which, although largely forgotten until today, appear to have stood him in good stead at the time and supported his search for a salaried position in England. The six concerti consist of four or five movements each, usually in the order slow-fast-slow-fast plus an extra movement at the end: a menuet, a march, a pastorale, etc. The whole reminds one, indeed, of Handel's Opus 6, although the pieces are less richly instrumented (strings only) and the difficulty is kept at a level which would not put off the gentleman-amateur who would want to play this kind of material. The exception is the two solo violin parts, here expertly and exquisitely played by no less than Roy Goodman and Andrew Manze, while the rest of the group is made up of promising students. The melodies and harmonic combinations are often delightful, and one needs to listen very carefully to detect some slight weaknesses in the student body of strings. Gary Cooper on the harpsichord provides a lively continuo. This is music which lovers of the baroque will vastly enjoy, and Roy Goodman is to be thanked for rediscovering it and giving it a sparkling performance.