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CD reviews
George JEFFREYS (c1610 - 1685): "Lost Majesty - Sacred Songs and Anthems"
Solomon's Knot
Dir: Jonathan Sells
rec: August 20 - 23, 2022, Deene (Northamptonshire), Kirby Hall
Prospero - PROSP0085 (© 2024) (1.26'01")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: D/F
Cover & track-list
Spotify
A music strange a 5 (For Whitsunday);
Awake my soul a 4;
Brightest of days a 5 (For the Epiphany);
Busy time this day a 5 (For the Blessed Innocents' Day);
Great and marvellous are thy works a 4;
Hark, shepherd swains a 5 (For the Nativity of our most Blessed Saviour);
He beheld the city a 4;
How wretched is the state you are all in a 4;
In the midst of life a 4;
Look up, all eyes a 5 (For the Ascension or our Blessed Saviour);
Rise heart, thy Lord is risen a 5 (For the Resurrection of our Blessed Saviour);
The Lord in thy adversity a 5;
Turn thee again a 4;
Turn thou us, O good Lord a 4;
What praise can reach thy clemency a 4;
Whisper it easily a 5 (On the Passion of our Blessed Saviour)
Zoë Brookshaw, Clare Lloyd-Griffiths, soprano;
Kate Symonds-Joy, contralto;
James Laing, alto;
Thomas Herford, Andrew Tortise, tenor;
Alex Ashworth, Jonathan Sells, bass;
Josep Maria Martí Duran, theorbo;
William Whitehead, organ
The new style that was born in Italy around 1600 disseminated quickly across most of Europe. The main exception was England, whose music scene it conquered only in the second half of the 17th century, receiving a boost when the monarchy was restored under Charles II, who during his captivity in France had become acquainted with the music that was common on the continent. Some composers deliberately rejected the new style, such as Matthew Locke, whereas others seem not to have cared very much about it. There were some exceptions, though. One was William Child (1606/07-1697), who wrote that his psalms (The First Set of Psalmes of III Voyces, 1639) were "newly composed after the Italian way". Another was George Jeffreys, whose oeuvre is the subject of a new recording by the ensemble Solomon's Knot.
Little is known about his early years, not even where he was born, around 1610. In the 1630s he probably spent some time in Cambridge, where he came into contact with the influential Hatton family from Northamptonshire. This resulted in a close connection: for most of his life he was in the service of this family, but not as a performing musician or composer, but rather as a steward. The family seat was Kirby Hall, where the recording took place in the Great Hall, one of the venues that has remaind intact (as it is partially ruined). The Hatton family supported the monarchy, which meant that its position was precarious during the Civil War and the Interregnum. When the royal court was based in Oxford, which for most of the Civil War was the Royalist capital, Jeffreys entered the service of Charles I as organist; this was to remain the only professional musical position he ever occupied. When Oxford capitulated, and Christopher Hatton moved to France, Jeffreys returned to his family in Weldon, a village nearby Kirby Hall, where he continued to serve Lady Hatton, who had remained in England.
Despite not being officially serving as a composer, Jeffreys was active in music all his life. One of his activities was copying music by others, and it is quite interesting that he copied a lot of Italian music, by the likes of Alessandro Grandi, Tarquinio Merula and Giovanni Felice Sances. It was Christopher Hutton who purchased the music, and Jeffreys who copied it. It shows his lively interest in what was written in Italy, but also inspired him to write music in the Italian style.
Jeffreys has left a pretty large oeuvre, consisting of seven instrumental fantasias, thirteen Italian madrigals, sixteen English songs, sixty-one Latin motets, five Latin canticles, two Latin mass move ments, twenty-six English anthems or devotional pieces, and three settings of texts from the English Communion Service. Only one of his compositions was published, which is one of the reasons that he and his oeuvre did not meet that much interest and had hardly any influence on the development of music in England. A thorough examination has shown that he has been composing throughout his career, but that 58 small-scale concertato pieces, in which voices and instruments participate, date from before 1648, and that some may even have been written as early as 1638. Therefore it is justified to consider him the first English composer of music in the stile nuovo.
The features of Jeffreys's compositions attesting to the Italian influence are the contrasts in meter and between homophony and imitative polyphony, the illustration of single words or phrases, the use of harmony for expressive reasons, inclusing dissonances and chromaticism, and a declamatory treatment of the text. The programme recorded by Solomon's Knot illustrates these features very clearly.
It is nearly impossible to say where his music may have been performed. He never had an official position, except during the few years in Oxford. Some of his music may have been performed at Charles I's court, but that is impossible to prove. It seems likely that most of his anthems were intended for domestic performance, for instance at Kirby Hall, witness the modest scoring for four or five instruments and basso continuo, without the participation of any other instruments.
The first disc includes all the pieces on English texts for five voices. They are connected to various stages of the ecclesiastical year, as indicated in the track-list in the header. The texts are anonymous, except Rise heart, thy Lord is risen, which is from the pen of the poet George Herbert (1593-1633). The Lord in thy adversity is a paraphrase of Psalm 20 by the poet George Sandys (1578-1644) and not connected to a specific time. These pieces date from early in Jeffreys's career. A music strange, a highly expressive piece intended for Whitsunday, dates from 1662. The second disc comprises the pieces for four voices, most of which were written after 1657. What praise can reach thy clemency is a paraphrase of extracts from Isaiah 38 by Sandys. Turn thee again is a setting of verses from Psalm 80. In the midst of life and Turn thou us, O good Lord are settings of texts from the Book of Common Prayer. Great and marvellous are thy works is based on verses from Revelations, and He beheld the city, which closes the second disc, is a setting of two verses from Luke 19: "He [Jesus] beheld the city and wept over it", shortly before his Passion and death.
If one is accustomed to English music from the first half of the 17th century, one is surprised to hear such music written by an English composer. Most of these pieces date from a time that the stile antico still ruled supreme in England. This is purely Italian music on an English text. It is rather surprising that it has received to little interest. It has not been completely neglected: I found one disc entirely devoted to Jeffreys's oeuvre, and single pieces have been included in anthologies. However, for historical and musical reasons his music deserves much more interest. The disc under review is a convincing testimony of his art, and it cannot be appreciated enough that Salomon's Knot decided to record a substantial part of Jeffreys's output. The pieces are performed with one voice per part, except Great and marvellous are thy works, in which the entire ensemble is involved. The features of these works mentioned above come off very well here. The text is give much attention and is always clearly intelligible, and the connection between text and music as well as the harmonic peculiarities are perfectly realized, also thanks to the meantone temperament. It is a shame that some of the singers use a bit more vibrato than is justified. The omission of it would have made these performances even better.
However, this should not withhold anyone from investigating this disc, which is a real ear-opener, and makes one curious about other parts of Jeffreys's oeuvre. It is to be hoped that this disc will encourage other performers to delve into his output.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
Solomon's Knot