In Sweelinck the various keyboard styles of the late Renaissance (Italian, Iberian, English) came together. This edition deals specifically with Sweelinck's (worldly) art of variation. Including Mein junges Leben, Est-ce mars, Ick already sailed over the Rhine and Under a linden green. A fine characterization of Sweelinck's playing was given by then Reverend Willem Baudartius in his memoirs. He
… tells how Sweelinck once varied the song The lusty May is now in time for an entire evening. And that countless times: 'now this, then that'. And he couldn't stop, even when the listeners actually wanted to go home already. Harpsichordist Fabio Antonio Falcone usually makes himself heard through the low-priced label Brilliant Classics. This release, however, appeared on Challenge Classics. Falcone plays a harpsichord from the collection of the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The instrument was built around 1632 by Ioannes Ruckers. In the mid-18th century, the instrument was expanded according to the fashions of the time. Much of the original sound character has been preserved in the process. (HJ)more
