Page 312 - FINAL_The Sixteen Coverage Book 40th Anniversary Year

Hieronymus Janssens, Charles II Dancing at a Ball at Court, c. 1660, oil on canvas : 140 × 214 cm.
London, The Royal Collection, RCIN 00525.

Welcome to All the Pleasures was not in fact a Royal commission but an Ode written for a newly
formed Cecilian Society, whilst From Hardy Climes was writiten in praise of Prince George of
Denmark on his marriage to the Lady Ann (Charles' niece and the future queen) - in fact the Prince
was a rather dull dog and King Charles famously quipped "I have tried him drunk, and I have tried him
sober and there is nothing in him".

Both pieces weave solo moments with vocal ensemble in a fluid manner with Purcell deploying his
quite limited forces with great imagination. These pieces respond to the relatively small scale of the
performance, and the singers in The Sixteen move easily between solo and ensemble roles with all
eight having a solo moment in one or other of the pieces. This is somewhat different to the complete
recording of the Odes and Welcome Songs from Robert King and the Kings Consort where the
soloists remain separate from the choir.

The disc opens with Hear my prayer, O Lord, one of the most affecting and tantalising of Purcell's full
anthems. It is very short and tempting to feel it is incomplete, yet it is very powerful, and may probably
have been written for a planned funeral service for King Charles II (dropped owing to his deathbed
conversion). Katy Hill gives a beautfifully fragile account of the song O Solitude, complemented by
the anthem Lord, how long wilt Thou be angry, the pavan and Plung'd in the confines of despair one
of Purcell's relatively neglected three part sacred songs. And these are followed by Welcome to all the
pleasures.

In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust is a truly large scale piece, accompanied by instrumental
ensemble, which lasts over 10 minutes, and this is followed by the mad song From silent shades in
which Kirsty Hopkins brings out the vivid changes of mood in the piece, and then a lively catch Of all
the instruments that are, before From hardy climes and dangerous toils of war.

311