With ‘Mr Handel in the Pub’, the ensemble I Zefirelli explores the grey area between so-called serious music and light music and, in the best London tradition, juxtaposes baroque and folk music. Georg Frideric Handel, with his Sonata à Flauto e Cembalo (HWV 367a) and the folk-style Hornpipe (HWV 367a), represents this typically English balancing act between art and folklore. Similarly, Henry Purcell’s serious Sonata VIII à 3 is also contrasted with a merry, folk-inspired hornpipe from his incidental music to William Congreve’s play The Old Bachlor. Furthermore, this CD contains sets of folk dances from an anthology of dances called The Dancing Master and Scot Tunes after William McGibbon and Francesco Barsanti. One of the highlights of this CD is I Zefirellis virtuosic interpretation of Arcangelo Corelli’s genius “La Folia”.
