JULIEN MARTIN AND SKIP SEMPE AT FONDREN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, SEPTEMBER
12, 2003.

   A happy bit of lagniappe that became available late in the season,
Julien Martin, recorder, and Skip Sempe, harpsichord, played a superb
program. It opened with works by the 16th century composers Jacopo
Arcadelt, Diego Ortiz, and John Bull, and, in the second group, from
the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, by Martin Peerson, Robert Johnson, and
Ferdinando Richardson. for the most part these involved florid melodies
for the recorder, and a variety of accompanimental styles - including
rolled chords - for the harpsichord. In part 3, "Ayres, Divisions &
Grounds", there was a shift forward of 50 to 100 years, to include
works by John Dowland, Thomas Campion, and van Eyck, with two anonymous
works, "St. Paul's Steeple", and "Greensleeves to a Ground", a set of
variations. In some cases a soprano recorder was substituted for the
alto recorder. This group closed with the "Frog Gaillaird".

   After an intermission a suites by Louis Antoine Dornel (harpsichord
and baroque recorder; early 1700s) and Louis Couperin (harpsichord
alone, late 1600s) followed. For me, the closing work was the most
impressive. It was Archangelo Corelli's set of variations on the
earlier melody "La Folie d'Espagne", a well-known tune from the 15th
century. Variously translated as "The Spanish Fool", "The Crazy
Spaniard", and "The Spanish Follies", this is as much a harmonic
progression as it is a melody. Many composers did variations on it,
including Brahms and Rachmaninoff. Corelli's variations were initially
for violin, but these have been arranged for keyboard as well. This
tune is very likely that same one that swept England during the reign
of Queen Elizabeth I, who is said to have enjoyed dancing, and in
particular dancing to the tune "The Spanish Panic". In any case
it was an extended virtuosic performance that left no doubt that
Martin and Sempe are an important emerging force in the field of
early recorder and keyboard music. Congratulations and thanks are
due the Mississippi Academy of Ancient Music!

                                            - Glenn A. Gentry