Camerata Köln - W. Williams: Chamber Works (2002)

In this country, William Williams is a pretty blank slate - which is not surprising inasmuch as there is not much to write on this sheet. The composer who filled in England the gap between the early baroque of a Henry Purcell and the (above all Italian influenced) High Baroque, rarely appears with one of his six trio sonatas op. 1 - three works each for recorder and violin with basso continuo -, where the deep string instrument in the basso here, in part, in a very unconventional way (particularly effective as in the short final Allegro of the second sonata, Tr. 18) gets rid of its mere supporting and accompanying function. Otherwise, the pieces in their sonority, in their song and in some extravagant to bizarre phrase something typical Anglo-Saxon. And as far as the already contained here are concerned, so are

The flutist Michael Schneider and the musicians of the Camerata Köln bring the music Williams's inherent Italian element effectively to their advantage by approaching not only factual-analytical, but also with a good dose of temperament to Williams' finely crafted works.