Academy of St. Martin in the Fields; Sir Neville Marriner - William Boyce: 8 Symphonies (1995) Remastered Reissue 2017

The leading native-born composer of eighteenth century England (save perhaps for Thomas Arne), William Boyce was born in London in 1711. He received his primary musical training as a boy soprano at St. Paul's Cathedral. When his voice changed, Boyce necessarily left the choir and began to study organ with the church's organist and composer, Maurice Greene. In 1734, Boyce accepted his first professional position as organist at the Oxford Chapel, where he remained for two years, also spending time teaching at a variety of nearby schools. From that position, Boyce moved on to serve in the same capacity at St. Michael's, and concurrently assumed a court composer position at the Chapel Royal. He was, a year later, named director of England's Three Choirs Festival, an annual celebration that was the first such endeavor of its kind and continues today in London.

Boyce's profile began to rise in the 1750s. In 1749, Boyce accepted employment as organist at the All Hallows Church, but also began a relationship with the Drury Lane Theater; he composed a wealth of incidental music over the next three years for that establishment. When, in 1755, the flourishing musician's former teacher Maurice Greene died, Boyce assumed the position "Master of the King's Music," an appointment widely considered the apex of his artistic career; in this post he reached the height of his celebrity in London. In this capacity, Boyce composed music (primarily odes) to be performed at specific royal occasions. Boyce also was named conductor at St. Paul's Cathedral's Sons of Clergy Festival.

In 1758, the Royal Chapel, who had already employed Boyce as court composer, hired him as chief organist. Boyce was rapidly losing his hearing, however, and was forced to resign his posts at both St. Michael's and All Hallows Church. His deafness had developed early in his life but did not handicap him until it worsened considerably in his later years. In forced retirement, Boyce committed himself to editing and organizing a collection of English church scores by numerous composers, including William Byrd and Henry Purcell. This compilation, entitled Cathedral Music, had been a project started by his teacher Maurice Greene many years prior to his death. Much of its remains prominent in the Anglican Church repertoire today.

Boyce produced a generous quantity of music during his career, and is most widely recognized for his symphonies, anthems, and overtures. His eight symphonies, all in three movements, combine Baroque style with forward looking elements; like other early "symphonies" in Italy, these were closely linked to the theatrical overture form; indeed, these symphonies were essentially collations of pieces borrowed from Boyce's own catalog of music for theater. Boyce composed music for keyboard, as well as chamber music for varied ensembles; a group of 12 trio sonatas in the Italian manner, published in 1747, proved particularly successful.

The music essayist Charles Burney recognized an essential English quality in Boyce's works, but the composer fell into obscurity in the nineteenth century. It was not until the 1930s that a quantity of his music (specifically his symphonies, overtures, and three concerti grossi) was rediscovered. Prominent in the revival of his works was the English conductor Constant Lambert, who edited scores of his music and programmed it repeatedly.

David Brensilver, Allmusic.com

Capriccio originally released this performance of Boyce symphonies in 1995. They return as part of the label’s Encore reissue series. Sir Neville Marriner leads the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (ASMF) in performances that may be a little dated, but they can still delight.

Marriner recorded hundreds of baroque and early classical era works, yet never ventured into the field of authentic performance practices — that is, using instruments of the period. The ASMF plays (as they do here) with modern instruments plus harpsichord.

While historic practices may be the norm today, these mid-1990s performances are perfectly valid readings that hold up well. Marriner brings Boyce’s symphonies to life with a light touch. There’s a genial nature to these works that charms the listener.

Capriccio’s remastering is well done. The ensemble has a transparent sound to it, making it easy to discern the ensemble’s inner voices. Although the overall sound is clear and detailed, there’s a certain softness around the edges. But that’s not uncommon in older recordings.

I’m glad to have these performances back in circulation.

Review by Ralph Graves, WTJU, June 2017

Exact Audio Copy V1.3 from 2. September 2016

EAC extraction logfile from 12. November 2017, 16:39

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner / Boyce - 8 Symphonies

Used drive : PLDS DVD-RW DU8A6SH Adapter: 1 ID: 0

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Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

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Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
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Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%


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Peak level 99.2 %
Extraction speed 3.6 X
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foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2018-09-27 01:52:36

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner / Boyce - 8 Symphonies
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR13 -0.07 dB -16.97 dB 4:06 01-Symphony No.5 in D major 'St.Cecilia's Day Ode' - I. Allegro ma non troppo - …
DR14 -1.94 dB -20.79 dB 2:01 02-Symphony No.5 in D major 'St.Cecilia's Day Ode' - II. Tempo di Gavotta
DR12 -2.29 dB -21.17 dB 2:08 03-Symphony No.5 in D major 'St.Cecilia's Day Ode' - III. Tempo di Menuetto
DR13 -2.92 dB -20.31 dB 2:42 04-Symphony No.1 in B flat major 'New Year Ode' - I. Allegro
DR11 -8.72 dB -24.58 dB 2:24 05-Symphony No.1 in B flat major 'New Year Ode' - II. Moderato e dolce
DR12 -3.44 dB -19.56 dB 2:17 06-Symphony No.1 in B flat major 'New Year Ode' - III. Allegro
DR12 -4.76 dB -21.50 dB 4:07 07-Symphony No.6 in F major 'Solomon' - I. Largo. Allegro
DR12 -9.67 dB -25.31 dB 2:36 08-Symphony No.6 in F major 'Solomon' - II. Larghetto
DR13 -6.04 dB -22.04 dB 2:29 09-Symphony No.3 in C major 'The Chaplet' - I. Allegro
DR11 -11.77 dB -25.61 dB 1:53 10-Symphony No.3 in C major 'The Chaplet' - II. Andante
DR14 -6.36 dB -24.14 dB 1:33 11-Symphony No.3 in C major 'The Chaplet' - III. Tempo di Menuetto
DR12 -2.75 dB -18.74 dB 4:51 12-Symphony No.7 in B flat major 'Pythian Ode' - I. Andante. Spirituoso
DR12 -9.30 dB -25.74 dB 2:46 13-Symphony No.7 in B flat major 'Pythian Ode' - II. Moderato
DR13 -3.93 dB -20.27 dB 2:05 14-Symphony No.7 in B flat major 'Pythian Ode' - III. Jigg. Allegro assai
DR13 -4.65 dB -20.97 dB 3:13 15-Symphony No.2 in A major 'Birthday Ode' - I. Allegro assai
DR13 -10.75 dB -26.89 dB 1:21 16-Symphony No.2 in A major 'Birthday Ode' - II. Andante
DR11 -5.51 dB -21.10 dB 1:34 17-Symphony No.2 in A major 'Birthday Ode' - III. Presto. Allegro
DR13 -2.10 dB -18.29 dB 3:12 18-Symphony No.4 in F major 'Shepherd's Lottery' - I. Allegro
DR11 -6.92 dB -21.37 dB 1:28 19-Symphony No.4 in F major 'Shepherd's Lottery' - II. Vivace ma non troppo
DR12 -2.47 dB -20.45 dB 2:22 20-Symphony No.4 in F major 'Shepherd's Lottery' - III. Gavotta. Allegro
DR13 -2.64 dB -18.69 dB 4:58 21-Symphony No.8 in D minor 'Worcester Overture' - I. Pomposo. Allegro
DR12 -6.02 dB -23.84 dB 1:55 22-Symphony No.8 in D minor 'Worcester Overture' - II. Lagro. Andante
DR13 -3.57 dB -20.06 dB 3:40 23-Symphony No.8 in D minor 'Worcester Overture' - III. Tempo di Gavotta. Risoluto
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Number of tracks: 23
Official DR value: DR12

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 658 kbps
Codec: FLAC
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