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Catherine Bott, Concerto Caledonia - The Lion of Scotland: Cantatas by John Clerk of Penicuik (1998)

Posted By: Designol

Date: 12 May 2021 17:36:53

Catherine Bott, Concerto Caledonia - The Lion of Scotland: Cantatas by John Clerk of Penicuik (1998)

This is the first recording of any of Clerk's cantatas which are among the finest contributions to baroque music from these islands from a man of great cultural significance and with a crucial place in the history of Scottish culture. Clerk studied in Rome under Corelli and Pasquini and was also a lawyer, judge, amateur architect, artist, poet and landscape gardener. A great deal more fascinating information about him is printed in the CD booklet.

Clerk had a natural melodic gift and his vocal writing is magnificent: intense, sensuous, varied. He enhances his texts with subtle illustrative touches, from a ground bass representing Fortune's wheel, to delicate violin trills depicting hovering cupids. Leo Scotiae irritatus commemorates an ill-fated claim by Scotland to colonize the Panama isthmus, an enterprise which led to conflict with the English and the Spanish. Dic mihi confesses to a somewhat ambivalent sexuality.

Clerk's direct heir in the male line, the present Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, still lives at Penicuik House, and it is with his permission that the editions used here were made from Clerk's original manuscripts.

But for an informative and amusing article by John Purser, Scottish composer John Clerk is likely to mean little to most of us. Clerk was born in 1676 and lived until he was nearly 80. It is tempting to imagine him as an isolated sage working in an artistic vacuum far from the growing gouts reunis of most European centres, but in truth he was a cultivated man, not dissimilar to Telemann in his far-ranging interests and professional contacts. He was a signatory to the 1707 Act of Union between England and Scotland, though a reluctant one if we take the affecting and original cantata, Leo Scotiae irritatus, as clear evidence of national pride and colonizing ambitions. More relevant to his musical style is the fact that, contrary to paternal advice, Clerk set off to Rome and studied with Corelli and Pasquini. Most of his works date from the years following his return to Scotland at the end of the seventeenth century. Later in life, he knuckled down to the law and became a judge.

These five cantatas and a single sonata for solo violin reveal that Clerk, like the young Thomas Linley a couple of generations later, cuts at best an imposing musical figure, nonchalantly negotiating all the stylistic and formal ingredients that constitute a successful extended text setting. If Dic mihi saeve puer, the opening number, were to represent the limits of his expressive capabilities, then he would be viewed as little more than a curiosity; as it is, this is the least convincing performance also, with a relatively narrow focus to the string sound and a veiled quality to Catherine Bott’s voice. In Eheu! quam diris hominis, we hear a poignant Scarlattian turn of phrase that informs Clerk’s capacity for intimate dialogue between a throbbing string figure (to reflect life draining away, against the backdrop of his suffering smallpox) and a melodic pathos, sung by Bott with the intensity of line it deserves. Her imploring delivery of words and variety of colour contribute significantly to these efficacious and genial vignettes, and to the more substantial Odo di mesto intorno. Concerto Caledonia sound a little closed – and intonation is not always spot-on – but they, too, contribute to an interesting disc, well worth investigating.'

Review by Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Gramophone

John Clerk at Allmusic
John Clerk at Wiki

Catherine Bott at Allmusic
Catherine Bott at Wiki

Tracklist:

John Clerk (1676-1755)

01. Dic mihi saeve puer (9:31)
02. Leo Scotiae irritatus (6:22)
03. Miserere mei, Deus (13:12)
04. Sonata a violino solo (4:23)
05. Eheu! quam diris hominis (10:45)

Odo di mesto intorno
06. 1. Symphonia di J Clerk (2:18)
07. 2. Odo di mesto intorno - Ahi si, v'intendo si (4:14)
08. 3. Parte l'Anglicano Campione - Maiore accresse il foco (3:47)
09. 4. Vanne, ma in bianchi lini - Alla battaglia (3:33)
10. 5. Alla assalto - Amoretti ch'intorno scherzate (4:34)
11. 6. Ma dopo tai conflitti - Le catene d'Amor (6:00)

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

EAC extraction logfile from 23. August 2016, 20:12

Catherine Bott, Concerto Caledonia / John Clerk of Penicuik - Cantatas

Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GU70N Adapter: 1 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
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1 | 0:00.00 | 9:30.40 | 0 | 42789
2 | 9:30.40 | 6:21.72 | 42790 | 71436
3 | 15:52.37 | 13:12.34 | 71437 | 130870
4 | 29:04.71 | 4:23.23 | 130871 | 150618
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7 | 46:30.60 | 4:13.45 | 209310 | 228329
8 | 50:44.30 | 3:47.15 | 228330 | 245369
9 | 54:31.45 | 3:33.25 | 245370 | 261369
10 | 58:04.70 | 4:33.55 | 261370 | 281899
11 | 62:38.50 | 5:59.71 | 281900 | 308895

Range status and errors

Selected range

Filename C:\temp\CDA67007 - John Clerk of Penicuik - Cantatas\John Clerk of Penicuik - Cantatas.wav

Peak level 99.9 %
Extraction speed 5.1 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 4F72C151
Copy CRC 4F72C151
Copy OK

No errors occurred

AccurateRip summary

Track 1 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [A4D4383D], AccurateRip returned [253D144F] (AR v2)
Track 2 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [ACD1E049], AccurateRip returned [F5BA10DD] (AR v2)
Track 3 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [70F9D735], AccurateRip returned [C2A9C406] (AR v2)
Track 4 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [9513D9FD], AccurateRip returned [4E608456] (AR v2)
Track 5 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [5A9B9EF5], AccurateRip returned [58B478DB] (AR v2)
Track 6 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [BA7ED782], AccurateRip returned [FE03981E] (AR v2)
Track 7 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [722160E0], AccurateRip returned [2E7CC5C9] (AR v2)
Track 8 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [BB632D50], AccurateRip returned [A6196C32] (AR v2)
Track 9 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [F625D845], AccurateRip returned [2128F18A] (AR v2)
Track 10 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [6A9327F8], AccurateRip returned [25E95862] (AR v2)
Track 11 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 2) [D41D5A6F], AccurateRip returned [641931EF] (AR v2)

No tracks could be verified as accurate
You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database

End of status report

==== Log checksum 4B34C4A65844B902D950520B495C1F57142A7E0E8693941A6BB236DC7189AE44 ====

DR log

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-06-25 22:48:38

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Catherine Bott, Concerto Caledonia / John Clerk of Penicuik - Cantatas
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR17 -2.08 dB -24.94 dB 9:31 01-Dic mihi saeve puer
DR15 0.00 dB -22.53 dB 6:22 02-Leo Scotiae irritatus
DR16 -1.98 dB -23.63 dB 13:12 03-Miserere mei, Deus
DR14 -7.78 dB -25.27 dB 4:23 04-Sonata a violino solo
DR16 -1.20 dB -24.01 dB 10:45 05-Eheu! quam diris hominis
DR12 -12.17 dB -27.90 dB 2:18 06-Odo di mesto intorno - Symphonia di J Clerk
DR16 -3.66 dB -24.89 dB 4:14 07-Odo di mesto intorno - Odo di mesto intorno - Ahi si, v'intendo si
DR17 -4.02 dB -26.56 dB 3:47 08-Odo di mesto intorno - Parte l'Anglicano Campione - Maiore accresse il foco
DR14 -2.15 dB -20.27 dB 3:33 09-Odo di mesto intorno - Vanne, ma in bianchi lini - Alla battaglia
DR14 -1.50 dB -22.44 dB 4:34 10-Odo di mesto intorno - Alla assalto - Amoretti ch'intorno scherzate
DR17 -1.05 dB -24.05 dB 6:00 11-Odo di mesto intorno - Ma dopo tai conflitti - Le catene d'Amor
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 11
Official DR value: DR15

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 618 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

All thanks to original releaser - A-Z

More interesting music in My Blog

90s John Clerk Classical MP3 320 CBR Catherine Bott Vocal CD-Rip MP3 FLAC Baroque Concerto Caledonia Lossless John Clerk of Penicuik