Vivaldi : 6 sonates pour violoncelle Op. XIV

For anyone with more than a casual interest in music, any music, A History of Baroque Music: Instrumental Music and its companion volume devoted to secular music will prove invaluable. Here, thoughtfully arranged as five thematic programmes, is an anthology that delivers exactly what the title promises, and in doing so lays out the foundations of Western music; not just classical music, but the folk tradition and most everything else that has developed since. Despite the budget price, the collection is attractively packaged like a miniature LP box set, each disc presented in its own tastefully designed card sleeve. There is an astonishing six and a half hours of music, from the emergence of instrumental forms in the early 16th century to the development of the baroque orchestra and the concerto, with the final disc being devoted to an exploration of the specifically German Lutheran and polyphonic tradition. The accompanying booklet sets the context with 25 pages of, clear, accessible English-language notes, making the collection appropriate for educational use as well as providing undiluted pleasure through the music of Bach, Corelli, Dowland, Handel, Monteverdi, Purcell, Telemann, Vivaldi, and many lesser-known composers. The recordings, taken from Harmonia Mundi's extensive back catalog, come from many of the top names in early music performance, including the Academy of Ancient Music, William Christie, Ensemble 415, René Jacobs, London Baroque, and Ton Koopman and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In other words, this is an anthology of the very highest quality, a rich banquet of absolutely wonderful music.