Jason Dovel and Schuyler Robinson, Baroque Music for Trumpet and Organ (New Branch Records 019, 2018). www.newbranchrecords.com and www.jasondovel.com.

Jason Dovel has produced a beautiful recording with a stunning program of five well known and elegant works from the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth century trumpet repertoire. Those who attended the HBS symposium in New York in 2017 will remember his fine playing with his Kentucky University baroque trumpet ensemble. Jason Dovel is a great promoter of historical trumpet performance and has established, perhaps the very largest university baroque trumpet program in the US at the University of Kentucky.

Ensemble Collina, Confluence (Acis APL 01744), 2016. acisproductions.com

Confluence is the first recording by the early music group Ensemble Collina. The quartet consists of Leah Peroutka, violin, Brent Wissick, viola da gamba, Michael Kris, trombone, and Elaine Funaro, harpsichord and organ. For their inaugural recording, they have chosen thirteen seventeenth-century works.

Musica Fiorita, George Frideric Handel: Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day (Pan Classics, 2017).

Recorded at Adullamkapelle, Basel, Switzerland November 17-21, 2016 in A=415 Hz. http://www.musicafiorita.ch/

From 1683 through 1703, on November 22, St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music would be celebrated with great festivities including a religious Mass, banquets, and a gala concert. Composers whose music was performed during these years include Henry Purcell, John Blow, John Eccles, Daniel Purcell, Giovanni Battista Draghi, and Jeremiah Clarke. It is not known why the tradition ended, but in 1739, it was revived and this time featured music by Georg Frederic Handel. The program included his Alexander’s Feast, which had premiered three years earlier, and a new work with the same title as one composed for these occasions many years earlier by Henry Purcell: the Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day.

Alec Frank-Gemmill and Alasdair Beatson. A Noble and Melancholy Instrument: Music for Horns and Pianos of the 19^th Century. BIS, 2017 (BIS-2228, Hybrid SACD). www.bis.se. Recorded January 2016 in Cologne, Germany.            

This recording is well worth the investment and time required for attentive listening. Overall, Alec Frank-Gemmill displays beautiful horn playing, agile technical ability, excellent tone quality