Pavan in F Major - John Jenkins

I found this song through a random Naxos browsing, so I don't know much about John Jenkins. However, I believe that, no matter when he wrote this, F Major probably didn't mean that the piece was in E Major. However, this recording was made in E Major. The only explanations I can come up with are that it was transposed to accomodate the artists (or maybe their instruments), that the recording was slowed down during production, or that Naxos has some kind of playback problem that slows it down... except it was in tune in E Major.

Anyhow, New Grove says that a Pavan used to be some sort of court dance in the 18th century. This was pretty sad music for a dance - it had a slow tempo and not that strong of a pulse to keep dancers in time. However, I can see how it may make a good dance because it rarely fully cadenced - many times, the piece sounded as though a cadence was going to occur, but what should have been the final chord was really the beginning of the next phrase, and so the piece had a good continuity that a dance requires.

Overall, the music made me feel complacent. There wasn't many structural phenomena, or anything that may make me get excited or feel much tension. Also, there is little dynamic contrast throughout.

Visit
http://depauw.naxosmusiclibrary.com/default.asp?page_name=S_contentQuery&label=Classical%20Music&genre=&char=J#
if my review just got you so excited about this piece that you must hear it.