{"title":"DENIS STEVENS: THE MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY RECORDINGS","description":"\u003cp\u003eDenis William Stevens (1922–2004) was a highly influential British musicologist, conductor, and broadcaster, renowned primarily for his pioneering work in early music, particularly the works of Claudio Monteverdi.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEducated at Jesus College, Oxford, Stevens began his notable career as a producer for the BBC's Third Programme in the late 1940s and 1950s. In this role, he was instrumental in bringing historically informed performances of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music to a wider audience, significantly shaping public appreciation for repertoire previously considered obscure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStevens combined meticulous scholarship with practical musicianship. He produced numerous critical editions of composers such as Monteverdi, John Dunstaple, Thomas Tomkins, and Orlando Gibbons, making their music accessible for modern performance. As a conductor, he founded ensembles like the Ambrosian Singers (initially for recording projects) and led performances noted for their vitality and historical awareness. His landmark recordings, especially of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, were highly acclaimed and remain influential.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeyond broadcasting and performance, Stevens held academic positions, notably as Professor of Musicology at Columbia University in New York (1964-1976) and later at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He was a prolific writer, contributing numerous articles, reviews, liner notes, and books, including the comprehensive A History of Song (1960).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDenis Stevens's legacy lies in his crucial role during the 20th-century early music revival. He expertly bridged the gap between scholarly research and engaging performance, leaving a lasting impact on how early music is studied, performed, and appreciated worldwide.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"purcell-music-for-the-london-theater-1","title":"PURCELL: MUSIC FOR THE LONDON THEATER - Denis Stevens, Accademia Monteverdiana","description":"","brand":"The Musical Heritage Society","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48359222247732,"sku":"196006364885","price":9.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/5740\/5748\/files\/artworkafbdb5a9-07bc-42f6-b2a7-36cdc6ce8730.jpg?v=1784903735"},{"product_id":"albicastro-boyce-concerti-and-concerti-grossi-1","title":"Albicastro \u0026 Boyce: Concerti and Concerti Grossi - Denis Stevens, Accademia Monteverdiana","description":null,"brand":"The Musical Heritage Society","offers":[{"title":"Digital Download","offer_id":48440876269876,"sku":"196006363475","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/5740\/5748\/files\/ALBICASTROBWredo2026.jpg?v=1775164713"},{"product_id":"dance-music-of-the-renaissance-baroque-philip-jones-brass-ensemble-accademia-monteverdiana-jaye-consort-1","title":"DANCE MUSIC OF THE RENAISSANCE \u0026 BAROQUE - Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, Accademia Monteverdiana, Jaye Consort","description":null,"brand":"The Musical Heritage Society","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48449601863988,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/5740\/5748\/files\/artwork8ebb64c8-1cf8-43ee-b4c1-0be9b112130b-LARGE_cae25d7f-cb23-4dc1-a397-a602489500c5.jpg?v=1738346606"},{"product_id":"gay-the-beggars-opera-denis-stevens-accademia-monteverdiana","title":"Gay: The Beggar's Opera - Denis Stevens, Accademia Monteverdiana","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan data-canva-clipboard=\"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\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAct 1, Overture and Nos. 1-13 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAct 1, Nos. 14-18\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAct 2, Nos. 19-31 Act 2, Nos. 32-40\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAct 3, Nos. 41-46 Act 3, Nos. 47-69 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDespite its renown, The Beggar's Opera has never previously been recorded with the musical style and resources that characterize early 18th century London. I sincerely hope that the version you hear now will assist in carrying your imagination back to those heady days of the English theater, even though \"the play's the thing\" and in many ways the opera is incomplete without Gay's racy dialogue. The answer is to purchase copies of the play and gather your friends and family for a play-reading, during which a highly refined and appropriately costumed disc jockey can put on the musical numbers at appropriate points. Although it may perhaps be objected that the singers do not try to sound like highwaymen, criminals, and prostitutes - preferring the beauties of bel canto to the barbarisms of \"can belto\" - there is nothing historically wrong with this. Many of the actor-singers associate with the original production possessed voices of beauty and disinction, and there is no evidence to show that they deliberately distorted their vocal talents in the interests of total realism. Nor can it be proved that in real life all highwaymen were tone-deaf and all prostitutes devoid of the ability to sing. In Venice, if not in London, courtesans were as much prized for their musical as for their sexual performances, and the phrase 'wine, women and song' should not be restricted to the Austrian Empire. May you enjoy this delightful music as much as we enjoyed recording it for you. --Denis Stevens\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"The Musical Heritage Society","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48952614027572,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/5740\/5748\/files\/beggarsoperamhsorgcover.jpg?v=1764003935"},{"product_id":"dunstable-sacred-and-secular-music-ambrosian-singers","title":"Dunstable: Sacred and Secular Music - Ambrosian Singers","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe life of John Dunstable (d. 1453), like that of so many other medieval musicians, is still very much of a closed book. He probably took his name from his native town in Bedfordshire, and we know he served the Duke of Bedford, brother of Henry V, as a member of his private chapel. Since the Duke was Regent of France, Dunstable must have known even in his youth a life of continual travel. He probably received his training as a chorister in the Chapel Royal. In 1418, the Duke removed six men from the Chapel to accompany him on his European journeys, and it is likely that one of these men was John Dunstable. He became a conano of Hereford Cathedral in 1419, but this would not have interfered with his travels in the service of the Duke. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor nearly twenty years John Dunstable lived in France and probably visited neighboring countries as well. By far the greater number of manuscripts containing his work is found in continental libraries; hardly any remain in England. The political upheaval caused by England’s withdrawal from France (Dunstable’s writing down of an astronomical treatise in 1438 coincides roughly with the date of the retur to England of the Duke’s chapel) and the cankerous intrigu that was eventually to burst forth as the Wars of the Rose may well have caused his retirement from the musical world and from the rigors of medieval travelling. He appears to have written no music during the last fifteen years of hi life. Between the epitaph referring to him as “as astrologiana a mathematician, a musician, and what not” and Thoma Morley there is hardly reference to him by an Englis writer. However, the glowing testimonies of Tinctoris, Martin le Franc and Eloy d’Amerval more than make up the the lack of interest in England. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Musical Heritage Society","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49220906778932,"sku":"5027822410355","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/5740\/5748\/files\/artwork3734bcf8-3a00-4eca-a448-4583adb505b2-LARGE.jpg?v=1785348340"},{"product_id":"monteverdi-il-combattimento-di-tancredi-e-clorinda-il-lamento-di-arianna-se-i-lenguuidi-miel-sguardi","title":"Monteverdi: Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda; Il Lamento di Arianna; \"Se I lenguuidi miel sguardi...\"","description":"\u003cp\u003eIl Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda represents one of the highest moments in Monteverdi’s works, both from the standpoint of style and composition and that of pure artistry. The work, taken from the Eighth Book of Monteverdi Madrigals (Madrigali Guerrieri et Amorosi Con alcuni opuscoli in genere rappresentativo che saranno per brevi Episodi fra i canti senza gesto. Libro Ottavo. In Venice in the care of Alessandro Vincenti. MDCXXXVIII), was performed for the first time in the palace of the Venetian nobleman, Girolamo Mocenigo, in 1624 “during Carnival as a vigil entertainment, in the presence of all the nobility, whose sense of compassion was so touched, that they were almost moved to tears; and the applause granted the work was such as has rarely been seen or heard.” The preceding is how Monteverdi himself described the origin of the composition in the preface to his eighth book of madrigals. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Musical Heritage Society","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49225929687348,"sku":"5027822410256","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/5740\/5748\/files\/artworkbfaf6c98-7e91-49a9-be70-9cea5aa86508-LARGE.jpg?v=1785442347"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/5740\/5748\/collections\/denis_stevens_artist.png?v=1785442968","url":"https:\/\/themusicalheritagesociety.com\/collections\/denis-stevens-the-musical-heritage-society-recordings.oembed","provider":"The Musical Heritage Society","version":"1.0","type":"link"}