Solitude Reginald Mobley, Brandon J. Acker, Douglas Balliett

• Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695): Hail Bright Cecilia, Z. 328:
• 1 Purcell: Hail Bright Cecilia, Z. 328: IV. 'Tis Nature's Voice 03:58
• Oedipus, Z. 583:
• 2 Purcell: Oedipus, Z. 583: No. 2, Music for a While 03:37
• Francesco Corbetta (1615 - 1681): Chiacona:
• 3 Corbetta: Chiacona 03:48
• Henry Purcell: O Solitude, My Sweetest Choice, Z. 406:
• 4 Purcell: O Solitude, My Sweetest Choice, Z. 406 05:16
• Pietro Reggio (1632 - 1685): David:
• 5 Reggio: David 03:36
• Cesare Morelli, John Blow (1649 - 1708): Go, Perjured Man:
• 6 Morelli, Blow: Go, Perjured Man 02:12
• Beauty, Retire!:
• 7 Morelli, Pepys: Beauty, Retire! 01:41
• Phoebus, God Beloved by Men:
• 8 Morelli, Pepys: Phoebus, God Beloved by Men 02:34
• John Eccles (1668 - 1735): Ground:
• 9 Eccles: Ground 03:32
• John Dowland (1563 - 1626): The Second Book of Songes:
• 10 Dowland: The Second Book of Songes: No. 2, Flow My Tears 04:05
• 11 Dowland: The Second Book of Songes: No. 3, Sorrow, Sorrow, Stay, Lend True Repentant Tears 03:13
• Fortune My Foe:
• 12 Dowland: Fortune My Foe 02:23
• The Third Booke of Songes:
• 13 Dowland: The Third Booke of Songes: No. 2, Time Stands Still 04:04
• Douglas Balliett (b. 1982): Sam:
• 14 Balliett: Sam 02:54
• Ely of July:
• 15 Balliett: Ely of July 02:19
• Jonathan Woody (b. 1983): Ain't You My Child:
• 16 Woody: Ain't You My Child 04:28
• William Foden (1860 - 1947): Barcarolle:
• 17 Foden: Barcarolle 03:17
• Justin Holland (1819 - 1887), William Marshall Hutchison (1854 - 1933): Dream Faces:
• 18 Holland, Hutchison: Dream Faces 05:00
• Justin Holland, Caroline Norton (1808 - 1877): Juanita:
• 19 Holland, Norton: Juanita 03:53
• Justin Holland, Henry Clay Work (1832 - 1884): The Ship That Never Returned:
• 20 Holland, Work: The Ship That Never Returned 05:25
• Total Runtime 01:11:15

Info for Solitude

After a first album devoted to African American spirituals that won several awards (Opus Klassik, Edison Klassiek, GRAMMY® Award nomination), the American countertenor Reginald Mobley devotes this new recording to English repertoire with a simple combination of primarily voice, lute, and viola da gamba. Solitude opens with Henry Purcell's moving 'Tis Nature's Voice and other famous Purcell melodies, sails through John Dowland's deeply melancholy waves, and also reveals the declamatory charm of the 17th-century English composers who surrounded Samuel Pepys.

We then travel to America, where contemporary composers Jonathan Woody and Douglas Balliett explore "the indomitable resilience contained in the tale of a runaway slave" as told by the brilliant African American haiku poet Crystal Simone Smith. With Brandon Acker on lute, theorbo and baroque guitar and Douglas Balliett on viola da gamba and double bass, Reggie completes this intimate journey with songs arranged in the 19th century by the Black American guitarist, composer and abolitionist Justin Holland.

Reginald Mobley, counter-tenor
Brandon Acker, theorbe, guitar
Douglas Bailliett, double bass, viola da gamba

Reginald Mobley
GRAMMY-nominated American countertenor Reginald Mobley is globally renowned for his interpretation of baroque, classical and modern repertoire, and leads a prolific career on both sides of the Atlantic.

An advocate for diversity in music and its programming, Reginald became the first ever Programming Consultant for the Handel & Haydn Society following several years of leading H&H in its community engaging Every Voice concerts. He holds the position of Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach with Apollo’s Fire and has recently been appointed as Artistic Advisor at the Portland Baroque Orchestra. Reginald is also leading a research project in the UK funded by the AHRC to uncover music by composers from diverse backgrounds.

Highlights of this and next seasons include a diverse range of recitals, with piano and continuo (Chicago, De Bijloke in Gent, Wigmore Hall, MA Festival in Bruges, Bayreuth Baroque festival) as well as regular appearances with specialized ensembles; in North America: the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Early Music Vancouver, Collegium San Diego, Agave, Seraphic Fire, Washington Bach Consort and, in Europe: Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Wiener Akademie, Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, and Bach Oxford Soloists. Reginald will also tour Australia with Bach Akademie in May 2025, and will perform Bach’s St John’s Passion with Orchestre de Chambre de Paris as part of the St Denis festival in June 2025.

Reginald has been invited to sing with the US main orchestras including Pittsburgh Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Washington National Symphony, Philadelphia (both chamber and symphony), Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota, Montreal Symphony, Houston Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony and Orchestra of St Luke’s (at Carnegie Hall) for a repertoire comprising Handel’s Messiah, Carmina Burana and the Mozart Requiem.

In Europe, he has appeared with Orchester Wiener Akademie, Balthasar Neumann Chor & Ensemble, Freiburger Barockorchester, I Barocchisti, Bach Society in Stuttgart, Holland Baroque Orchestra, Dutch Bach Society, Monteverdi Choir and English baroque soloists, as well as the City of Birmingham Orchestra and the Budapest Festival Orchestra for a series of performances as Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea. He has also engaged in projects together with the Academy of Ancient Music in Cambridge, singing the role of Disinganno in Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and devising a new programme, Sons of England, supported by UKAHRC, which reflects his research under their umbrella, which toured England in May 2024. Reginald gave a Purcell, Handel and Sancho programme for his solo debut recital in Paris, which he repeated as part of the Bayreuth baroque opera festival in September 2023.

His first solo CD with ALPHA Classics was released in June 2023 to coincide with a major series of concerts with pianist Baptiste Trotignon at the Aix-en-Provence and BBC Proms festivals. The CD has been recently awarded the Opus Klassik Awards in the ‘Classics without limits’ category. His second recording will take place this autumn: it gives tribute to English baroque music (Purcell, Dowland and Sancho) and its resonance in the more recent American repertoire (with theorb/guitar and violone/doublebass). In addition, Reginald features on several albums with the Monteverdi Choir, Agave Baroque and Stuttgart Bach Society.

Brandon Acker
is a specialist on early plucked instruments such as the theorbo, baroque guitar, and lute. His latest passion has been running his successful YouTube channel, which now has over 575,000 subscribers and 55 million views. His channel provides educational content about early plucked instruments as well as guitar tips and artistic performance videos.

In 2020, he and his wife started an online school for “all things that go pluck!” called Arpeggiato.

The school offers lessons from professional musicians from around the world on guitar, ukulele, lute, and more. His online beginner classical guitar course, “Classical Guitar Pro,” currently has over 1700 students enrolled and he has launched the first online course for playing classical guitar without nails, called “No Nail Guitar in 10 Days.”

Brandon’s performance career has varied from starting out playing electric guitar in metal bands to his current main focus: researching and performing on early plucked instruments. He has toured extensively through England, Canada, Scotland, and Wales, and performed with notable groups such as Apollo’s Fire, Bruce Dickey’s Breathtaking Collective, Piffaro, the Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Philharmonic, Newberry Consort, Haymarket Opera Company, and more.

Booklet for Solitude