IBO & Peter Whelan - Welcome home, Mr Dubourg - All Music

Composer and violinist Matthew Dubourg is known mostly for having been joshed by Handel during the latter's visit to Dublin on the occasion of the first performance of Messiah. After a long, frequently modulating cadenza by Dubourg, Handel remarked, "Welcome home, Mr. Dubourg"; the album takes its title from that. His music is rarely played, and much of it has been not only performed but edited here for the first time. Dubourg was born in London and was a student of Francesco Geminiani, but later he worked at Dublin Castle and composed music there, including the handsome Ode for Dublin Castle. He wrote violin music in Italian styles, a bit outmoded for its time but always with a lively quality. His violin concerto, plus one of Vivaldi, is performed here in the current fashion, with inadequate contrast between solo and tutti. Dubourg's choral and vocal pieces bear the mark of Purcell and Blow more than Handel: again, not up to the minute for the second third of the 18th century, but unfailingly tuneful. Most interesting are a handful of Irish traditional pieces, wherein these tunes seem to echo across the centuries. Sample Ciste nó stór, which must have been one of the first instances in which a traditional tune was arranged in this way: there are virtuoso elaborations on the limpid melody. Essential for those interested in Irish music, this is a treat for anyone.