Henry Purcell: Chaconne 3 Parts Upon A Ground — Ensemble La Fenice

This work is indeed a chaconne and consists of only two parts: a ground (i.e., repeating bass) and a single upper part played by three melody instruments as a round: Each melody instrument (in this case, recorder) enters at a different time, so that all the harmony comes from the interaction of the one upper part with itself, much like Frère Jacques or another child's round. Given Purcell's idiosyncratic ear, though, the harmonic results here are certainly far from child's play.

Purcell: Chaconne 3 Parts Upon A Ground

I remember performing this work with two other recorder players, a gambist and a theorbist sometime in the early 1980s at Oberlin College's annual Baroque Performance Institute. All of us were at an age to be at our performing peak; ah, those were the days...

Ignore the less-than-optimal recording here and enjoy this truly odd but ingenious music, splendidly performed performed in a gorgeous cathedral!