A selection of organ music by Handel and his English contemporaries, played by internationally-respected early keyboard artist, Robert Woolley, in his first recording on the Regent label.
The disc includes both orginal organ music and contemporary eighteen-century transcriptions of works by Handel, together with orginal works for organ by the most renowed British composers of Handel’s time: William Boyce, Starling Goodwin, Maurice Greene, John James, James Nares, Thomas Roseingrave, John Stanley, and William Walond.
Played on the 1766 Thomas Parker organ in the church of St Mary and St Nicholas, Leatherhead. This instrument was reconstructed from orginal casework and pipework by the organ builders, Goetze & Gwynn, in 2007, and is a very rare example of organs from this period in England. This is the first recording of this delightful eighteenth-century instrument.
Robert Woolley is one of Europe's leading performers and teachers of the harpsichord, and other early keyboard instruments. He studied at the Royal College of Music ,where he is now Professor of Harpsichord and Clavichord, and was Director of the Early Music Department and Adviser for Early Music from 1985-2006.
He is well known as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player on the harpsichord, organ and fortepiano; his solo recordings include discs of music by Tallis, Byrd, Gibbons, Frescobaldi, Weckmann, Bohm, Handel, J S Bach, Scarlatti, Seixas and J C Bach for EMI, Virgin, Archiv, Hyperion and Chandos.
