The Friends of the London Handel Festival recently hosted the first concert of their winter season, providing their audience with a rare treat. Benjamin Hulett (tenor), Luke Green (harpsichord) and Benjamin Narvey (theorbo) performed Maurice Greene’s setting of Edmund Spenser’s Amoretti (‘little loves’), in what claimed to be the work’s first complete London performance since the collection was published in 1739. This concert also marked the recent launch of their CD, recorded in February 2012 with Giangiacomo Pinardi playing the theorbo, which is now available from Naxos [8.572891]. The evening began with a talk from Luke Green, who revealed that this particular concert constituted part of his wider Greene Project. Luke Green plans to study and revive several other compositions by Greene, including his overtures and organ music.

Greene was primarily a composer of church music and by 1735 he held positions as the organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral, principal organist and composer of the Chapel Royal, and Master of the King’s Music.  Although he is now remembered chiefly for his output of religious music, the Amoretti, composed in 1738 and dedicated to the Duchess of Newcastle, demonstrate Greene’s interest in the contemporary vogue for setting English Renaissance and Jacobean poetry to music.

Spenser’s Amoretti is a collection of eighty-nine sonnets, which were published in 1595 and recount his courtship of and marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth Boyle. Greene set only twenty-five of Spenser’s sonnets to music, but his careful selection means the narrative of courtship is still traceable. When heard as a complete cycle, as in this concert, the Amoretti offer limited musical variety: the songs are quite uniform, generally with two contrasting tempi and sometimes a change of time signature. However, Greene’s use of word painting, such as the continuous semi-quavers at the start of The rolling wheele that runneth often round (No. 5), helps to bring the narrative alive.

Luke Green deserves considerable praise for his journey of historical reconstruction leading up to the performance, which is just as noteworthy as the performance itself. Editions of eighteenth-century music are notoriously sparse, with the original manuscripts of the Amoretti notating only the vocal line and a ‘figured’ bass line. Instead of a fully notated accompaniment, numbers below the single bass line indicate to the performers how to complete the harmony in the moment of performance. Therefore, a high degree of skill is needed to ensure the two different accompanying instruments complement each other to full effect. Directions regarding dynamics and tempi are also sparse in early editions. For example, many of the Amoretti specify that there are two contrasting tempi at the start of the piece, such as Adagio-Allegro in No.17. While the location of these tempi changes would have been second nature to an eighteenth-century performer, they require more careful consideration today given the differences in common performance practice. Modern-day performers would more commonly write out a new edition with the realisation, tempi and dynamic markings already completed. However, Luke Green, Hulett and Narvey all performed from a facsimile of a 1739 edition, with Luke Green and Narvey realising the bass at sight. The knowledge of their approach made their performance all the more exciting.   

While extempore continuo playing is impressive, and its quality in this performance indicates how well rehearsed the ensemble was, some further decision-making in rehearsal perhaps would have given more textural nuance.  Indeed, the rare moments of textural contrast provided some particularly special moments. In Like a Ship that through the ocean wide (No.9), for example, the harpsichord retreated during the quieter, slower section leaving the theorbo as the sole accompaniment to Hulett. This change of texture enhanced both the contrast within the music, but also Spenser’s words: ‘Till then I wander in carefull comfortless, in secret sorrow and sad pensiveness’. Another such moment came at the very end of the last song, Like as the Culver on the bared bough: the gradual diminuendo provided a particularly warming end to the concert, encapsulated by Hulett’s acute sensitivity.

Hulett, well supported by both instrumentalists, really succeeded in bringing the songsto life. He appeared truly immersed in the persona of the male suitor throughout and successfully took the audience through the songs’ different moods with impressive versatility. This interaction, combined with his excellent diction and energy, resulted in a thoroughly convincing, at times theatrical, performance. Technically, his singing appeared effortless and his beautiful tone was even across his range.

In his introduction, Luke Green suggested that the Amoretti could be considered a ‘proto-song cycle’, and even likened them to Schubert’s Winterreise. As there is no surviving evidence surrounding the Amoretti’s original performance context it is unclear whether Greene intended them to be performed as a cycle or as individual songs, and Luke Green admitted that he was open to which presentation was more suitable. In the 1730s Greene, along with fellow composers William Boyce and Michael Christian Festing, founded the Apollo Club, which was devoted primarily to the performance and study of their own works. It is quite likely then, that the Amoretti would have been performed at club meetings – but whether as a complete cycle or as individual songs we can only speculate. Certainly, by the 1790s (fifty years after Greene’s death) the Amoretti were being published as individual songs in The Ladies’ Magazine for the purposes of amateur music-making. In fact, the slightly formulaic structure of the songs arguably lends them well to individual publication and performance. Hearing the Amoretti in terms of a proto-song cycle, though, can be seen as an effective way of widening their appeal to a modern audience. After all, the image of the Romantic hero tinged with vulnerable masculinity is perhaps more appealing to today’s audiences than that of a young woman’s social improvement through music.

In the concert the Amoretti were interspersed with three harpsichord solos by Handel: the Adagio and Fuga, from Suite II in F major; Prélude-Adagio, from Suite VIII in F minor; and Sarabande from Suite VII in G minor (all composed in 1720). As solo instrumental works these provided a thoughtful contrast to the Amoretti. Luke Green gave a stylish performance of all three pieces, showcasing both virtuosity and sensitivity. While these interludes served the pragmatic function of giving Hulett a chance to rest, they also succeeded in reminding the audience of the relationship between Greene and Handel. A fall-out concerning their contemporary Giovanni Bononcini saw the end of a long-standing acquaintance between the two composers. As a result, Charles Burney reported that Handel never spoke of Greene again ‘without some injurious epithet’. Indeed, by the time the Amoretti were composed the two had not been on speaking terms for several years. Added to this was their professional rivalry: Greene was principal composer and organist of the Chapel Royal from 1727 but the royal family still favoured Handel, who also held an appointment as a composer.

If there was one criticism to be had of the evening it would be the performers’ lack of conviction as to whether or not they thought the Amoretti worked as a complete cycle. Luke Green’s pre-concert acknowledgement that the ‘jury was out’ on this meant that, at times, the evening felt less about the performance than an exhibition of a lost artefact to a modern audience. In his enthusiasm to present this lost artefact, Luke Green in fact neglected to tell the audience of the skilful creativity behind the revival, particularly the continuo extemporisation, which is what made this performance so unique. Nevertheless, this did not detract from the superb quality of the music-making (extempore or not). The historical groundwork undertaken by Luke Green is admirable, the recent CD release is equally pleasing, and the evening was an exciting start to the Greene Project.