English 18th-century keyboard music

English keyboard music of the 18th century is not that often performed and recorded. The sonatas by Thomas Augustine Arne are pretty well-known and are available in several recordings. Popular among organists is the genre of the voluntary; some of them, especially those by John Stanley, are regularly performed, but if they are recorded, mostly as part of anthologies.

It is not that no music of any importance was written. In an article I read that in "the later 18th century" (probably from the 1730s onwards) 150 collections of 'lessons' were published. However, these are largely ignored, and that may well be due to the amount and quality of the keyboard music that was written around 1600, by the likes of William Byrd, John Bull and Orlando Gibbons, and an impressive collection as the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book. Even Henry Purcell, the main composer of the late 17th century, seems to suffer from that. A part of his music is frequently performed, but that does not go for his keyboard works (except some items). Add to that the towering figure of George Frideric Handel, whose operas inspired the publication of keyboard transcriptions of arias and instrumental pieces, and who also wrote high-calibre harpsichord suites.

in this review I would like to shed light on some that was written by three composers who have largely remained in the shadows, and who have been honoured by recent recordings of their keyboard works, closing with the much better-known Stanley.

In the 18th century London was one of the places to be for composers and performers, thanks to the many opportunities to play and its position as a centre of music publishing. Since the late 17th century many composers stayed in London for a a number of years or settled there for good. One of the latter was Jean-Baptiste Loeillet (1680-1730) [1], member of a musical dynasty from the southern Netherlands (present-day Belgium), who shared his Christian name with other members of his family, and therefore called himself 'John Loeillet of London'. There he settled around 1705. He played as flautist and oboist in the orchestra of the Queen's Theatre at the Haymarket, and organized concerts at his home.

Loeillet was also famous as a highly-skilled harpsichord player and was much sought after as a keyboard teacher. He published two collections of harpsichord pieces: three Lessons (c1712) and Six Suits of lessons for the harpsicord or spinnet in most of the key's with variety of passages and variations throughout the work (1723). The word lesson was generally used for any kind of keyboard music and does not necessarily refer to pedagogical material. However, there are good reasons to assume that these Lessons were indeed intended for amateurs who wanted to develop their skills. As Lilianna Stawarz states in the booklet to the recording of these suites by Maria Banaszkiewicz-Bryła: "[Loeillet's] intention was to teach moderately advanced performers the art of songlike phrasing, different types of ornamentation, registration, and articulation." The suites don't open with a prelude and don't include fugal movements.

Their pegagogical character does not diminish their musical value in any way. Loeillet was undoubtedly a good composer, as also other music of his pen shows. These suites are substantial and entertaining contributions to the repertoire of (English) keyboard music. The title-page specifically refers to the spinet as an alternative to the harpsichord. This was a quite common instrument among amateurs at the time, but is largely neglected in our time. Maria Banaszkiewicz-Bryła plays a copy of a harpsichord by François Blanchet of 1730, which turns out to be a good choice, although the performance on an English instrument (or a spinet) would be quite interesting. The performances are excellent, and stands out for the clarity of the musical fabric, thanks to the playing but also the recording.

The next composer is Richard Jones (?-1744) [2], who was a violinst by profession. He was mainly active in the world of the music theatre: around 1730 he became leader of the orchestra of the Drury Lane theatre. He also wrote music for theatrical performances. He must have been a brilliant violist, witness his Cahmber Air's, Op. 2 (c1735). They show that he was an independent mind; some of these pieces are quite bizarre.

His Suites or Setts of Lessons for harpsichord or spinet also attest to his independence. They are of different length: from six to twelve movements. Four open with a prelude of an improvisatory character; the prelude of the Suite III includes a fugal episode. Although Jones uses the form of the suite, his suites have nothing of the regularity of the suites that were written at the continent. Several suites include two of the same dances: the Suite II, for instance, has two gigas, the Suite V two sarabandas. Some include pieces one would not expect in a suite, such as two toccatas in the Suite I. Apart from dances, there are pieces with Italian tempo indications, such as largo and allegro. The spelling of the titles is often unusual: paspié (passepied), toccatta, borée (bourrée). The Suite VI is different from the others. Not only is it the longest (twelve pieces), it is also the only one which includes pieces with English titles: brisk air, slow air. It also has typically English movements: Scotch air (attesting to the popularity of Scottish folk music at the time), honpipe and march.

By all accounts Jones' suites are unusual, but exactly that is part of their attraction. As far as I know this is the second complete recording, and it is a very good one. Fernando De Luca understands their character and realizes what it means to show their full potential. This is extraverted music, and he rightly plays these suites with much aplomb. I would not advise to listen to all six suites at a stretch, also because of their length. But anyone who likes harpsichord music should have these suites in his collection. There is certainly no dull moment in them. De Luca plays the copy of a French harpsichord of 1691. The temperament is not mentioned, but the harmonic pecularities - and there are quite some - come off to good effect.

The least-known composer in this review is Elizabeth Turner (?-1756) [3], the only one who has no entry in New Grove and one of only two female composers from England of her time (as far as we know). The other one is Elisabetta de Gambarini, who also published keyboard music. She is better known, but we still don't have a stylistically appropriate recording of her keyboard music (in a recent recording it is performed on a Steinway). Both made a career as singers, but apparently Turner died before she could explore her full potential as a performer and a composer (the year of her birth is not known). She published two collections of music: the first of 1750 included twelve songs with instrumental accompaniment, the second of 1756 contained also (19) songs as well as six Lessons for harpsichord.

The names who subscribed to both collections (or one of them) attest to Turner's status: among them we find such prominent composers as Handel, Greene and Stanley. That is all the more telling as around that time many such pieces were published. These were mostly intended for students or advanced amateurs, and that also goes for the six Lessons by Turner. Some of their features are known from other works of the time, such as the inclusion of Alberti basses, and influences of folk music, especially that from Scotland. Other elements are movements which consist of a theme with variations, and the inclusion of menuets. The latter is a hallmark of the galant idiom, as is the fact that these pieces are mostly in two parts. These pieces are certainly not of the level that will make the headlines, but they are well worth listening to, especially when they are performed with so much energy and commitment, and as much differentiation as possible as here by Costanza Leuzzi, who plays the copy of a Pascal Taskin harpsichord. It is a fine instrument, but I would have liked an English harpsichord, which would have lent this recording a stronger amount of 'authenticity'.

At the end of this review we turn to John Stanley (1712-1786) [4], who is undoubtedly the best-known of the four composers. That is mostly due to the fact that his voluntaries are quite popular among organists. At the age of two he became blind due to an accident at home, but this did not prevent him from developing into one of England's most prominent organists. The popularity of his voluntaries among today's organists is not a new phenomenon: his playing attracted many colleagues, among them Handel. Stanley was also an excellent violinist, and in 1729 he became the youngest person to gain a BMus degree from Oxford University.

Stanley's extant oeuvre is not very large, but varied, and includes sacred and secular vocal music as well as instrumental works. His voluntaries are his best-known works. The term voluntary is used for a piece in free style for keyboard; it was used for the first time in the late 16th century. Stanley published three volumes of voluntaries between 1748 and 1754, but they may have been written in the 1720s and 1730s. Most of them are in two movements: slow - fast. A few are in three or four movements. Several movements are fugal; each set closes with two (Op. 5 and 7) or four (Op. 6) pairs of prelude and fugue. Most (fast) movements feature a solo stop.

As far as I know, Pietro Delle Chiaie is the first who recorded all three sets complete, which is of major importance. Some pieces are very well-known (for instance No. 1 from Op. 5, and Nos. 2 and 5 from Op. 6), but most others are not. They deserve to be better-known, and this recording serves that purpose rather well. Delle Chiaie delivers excellent performances, but whether the organ is the most appropriate instrument is questionable. It was built in 1999 in Italian style, which is different from English organs of the time, of which unfortunately only a few specimens have been preserved in playable condition. Therefore it is to be hoped that at some time we may see a recording on such an instrument. In the meantime, this release is one not to be missed by lovers of organ music of the 18th century.

[1] John (Jean-Baptiste) Loeillet: "Six Suits for the Harpsichord"
Maria Banaszkiewicz-Bryła, harpsichord
Prelude Classics PCL2400701 (© 2024) details
[2] Richard Jones: Suits of Sets of Lessons
Fernando De Luca, harpsichord
Da Vinci Classics C009896 (© 2025) details
[3] Elizabeth Turner: Six Lessons for the Harpsichord
Costanza Leuzzi, harpsichord
Brilliant Classics 97319 (© 2025) details
John Stanley: "Voluntaries Op. 5-7"
Pietro Delle Chiaie, organ
Brilliant Classics 97230 (© 2025) details