Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - String Quartets

"'Fame is a fickle thing; it can burst out like a shooting star and fade away just as quickly. Most composers have enjoyed their moment of fame, but for Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, his was a long and glorious moment indeed. In his hey-day, Dittersdorf's career even overshadowed Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His music was 'that will live on forever' [...] but it seems that history has seen to it that this was proven a false prophecy, and the music of Haydn and Mozart probably hammered in the nails that sealed Dittersdorf's coffin.' (Joshua Lilly)

"'I know for a fact that my name and works are famous all over Europe, so I hope I have given pleasure to half a million people in this well-populated part of the world. If only each of these people were to give one penny 'in omni et toto' to me - or rather to my family, since it would be of little use to me now - it would represent a tiny oulay for the giver, but what a huge difference it would make for the bereft, disconsolate family of a man who, like the one in the parable, did not bury his talent in the ground!'

"It is certainly tru that Vienna-born Karl Dittersdorf (1739-1799) did not bury his talent: he produced four oratorios, various masses, some fifty stage works, as well as symphonies, concertos and chamber music. He did what he could to develop his talents and to become accepted in society. As one of the outstanding violin virtuosos of his generation he travelled widely, and as a highly respected composer for the stage he was invited to many of the great opera houses. His singspiel 'Doktor un Apotheker' (Doctor and Apothecary) was even more famous in his day that Mozart's 'Marriage of Figaro'. Yet, as befalls so many of those who are swept aloft on waves of applause, the end of his life brought total insignificance and the painful realisation that he was already forgotten in his own lifetime. That same world in which admiration once held sway continued to turn, and had spun away in a different direction. Nevertheless, Kart Dittersdorf, not yet sixty but already almost crippled by gout, worked away doggedly at a late composition, a set of several new pieces. He announced it for subscription in specialist journals, only to be disappointed: not a single buyer came forward for any of the pieces. Out of kindness of heart a prince took pity on him and his family and gave them a home.

"Instead of resigning himself to his fate, he dictated an autobiography to his son. This is a remarkable document in many respects. It is a rich source of information on life at small Central European courts, such as Grosswardein and Johannisberg, where Dittersdorf spent much of his career. One learns, for instance, that a prince bishop had so little to do that he could afford to spend a week translating a cantata text from Italian into Latin for the astonishing reason that oridnary gentlemen and ladies, the musical amateurs who formed the greater part of the operatic ensemble at small courts of this kind, knew no Italian but were fluent in Latin.

"The autobiography is remarkable also because Dittersdorf's account of his life is straightforward and honest, unembellished, at times bitter, and usually spiced with apt touches of irony. His time was one of wars that altered the political landscape, shifting power structures, plots and intrigues at the courts of princes and emperor, long journeys that took a toll on health, poor standards of hygeine, a lack of social security provision; but on the other hand it was a time when drama and orchestral music flourished even in the smallest towns; a time when the world seemed stable and untroubled by doubt. There was dignity and social etiquette (though also hypocrisy). In Vienna Haydn, Mozart, Vanhal and Dittersdorf met to play string quartets together for their own pleasure, occasionally joined by Paisiello, and there were times when the musical director at a princely court might also be called upon to fill the role of chief forester. They were times no less strange than our own.

"Dittersdorf was ennobled in 1773, an honour that cost him, as he ruefully recalls, 1100 gulden, of which 50 ducats went to an agent, Herr von Hoffmann, evidently an intermediary in these matters, although the prince did present him with 400 gulden. Dittersdorf is remembered today chiefly as a composer for the double-bass - which is absurd to start with. Many of his works are thoroughly original, but others are not. He never saw himself as a genius but as a person who strove to do the best he could in order to build a career for himself and become a respected member of society. No romanticism in this. And this explains why people nowadays would rather listen to Mozart work that is not entirely original than to an original one by Dittersdorf - yet amongst the potboilers there a handful of highly original works.

"As always, our contacts with historical figures tell us more about ourselves than about them. We are fortunate enough to have the wherewithal to introduce music from totally different historical contexts into our daily listening and thus to acquire a taste for music of all periods; this gives us the notion that we stand higher, see further, and understand better and more than preceding generations. This notion may not even be a mistaken one. But the Dittersdorfs alive today in our town, in our own country, in our own days, may die just as miserable and unregarded a death as Dittersdorf himself a couple of centuries ago. That's life.

"One thing emerges from Dittersdorf's life and autobiography: then as nowadays, the overriding concern was getting enough money to achieve a certain standard of living, and the romantic ideas that have always hovered the (dead) composer are nonsense. Dittersdorf the composer was pleased when an orchestral movement turned out particularly well, and he was pleased when a prince requested him to perform his piece.s The same was doubtless true of Mozart. But one must be allowed to ask this question: what else were they supposed to do to survive?

"'Laden with honour and money I arrived back in Johannisberg and was welcomed with happy smiles by my family and with friendly but quzzical looks by my creditors.' Thus wrote Dittersdorf. He is worth reading and listening to. He was one of the most entertaining composers and men." (Andreas Daams, tr. Celia Skrine. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Sharon Quartet

1. String Quartet No. 1 In D Major: I. Moderato

2. String Quartet No. 1 In D Major: II. Menuetto

3. String Quartet No. 1 In D Major: III. Finale. Allegro

4. String Quartet No. 3 In G Major: I. Moderato

5. String Quartet No. 3 In G Major: II. Menuetto. Moderato

6. String Quartet No. 3 In G Major: III. Finale. Presto

7. String Quartet No. 4 In C Major: I. Allegro

8. String Quartet No. 4 In C Major: II. Menuetto. Allegro

9. String Quartet No. 4 In C Major: III. Andante

10. String Quartet No. 5 In E-Flat Major: I. Allegro

11. String Quartet No. 5 In E-Flat Major: II. Menuetto

12. String Quartet No. 5 In E-Flat Major: III. Finale. Allegro

flac/16-bit

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - Sinfonias on Ovid's Metamorphoses Nos. 1-3

"In the autobiography dedicated to his son Carl Ditters gives a brief account of his parentage. He was born in Vienna in 1739, the son of a costume-maker employed at the court theatre under Charles the Sixth, a man who also served as a first lieutenant in the citizen's artillery and took part in the war that followed the death of that ruler. He had a good general education and in 1751 joined the musical establishment of the Prince of Sachsen-Hildeburghausen, where he was able to undertake a more concentrated study of music, with composition lessons from Giuseppe Bonno. The Prince left Vienan in 1761 and disbanded his musical establishment, finding a position for Ditters and some of his colleagues under Count Durazzo in the court opera and orchestra. This brought a close acquaintance with dramatic music, not least through Gluck, with whom he traveled to Italy in 1763, making an impression himself as a violinist and meeting Italian musicians of distinction, including Padre Martini and the castrato Farinelli.

"In 1764 Count Durazzo resigned his position, compelled to do so by the hostile intrigues of Reutter and others associated with the court, and was appointed ambassador to Venice, a position he held for some twenty years. Ditters found difficulty in working under Durazzo's successor and resigned in order to take up an appointment as Kapellmeister to the Bishop of Grosswardein, where he succeeded Michael Haydn, younger brother of Joseph Haydn. When the musical establishment was disbanded in 1769, he found employment as Kapellmeister to the Prince-Bishop of Breslau, Count Schaffgotsch, at Johannisberg, coupling this position with that of Forstmeister (forestry superindendent) in the Neisse region. In 1773 he was ennobled by the Empress, taking the additional title of von Dittersdorf. This enabled him to become Amtshauptmann, chief official, of Freiwaldau, retaining this position and his work at Johannisberg in spite of an apparent suggestion that he become court composer in Vienna, in succession to Gassmann, who had died in 1774. The war of the Bavarian succession brought difficulties for his patron and consequently for Dittersdorf, who spent the years after the Prince-Bishop's death in 1795 in retirement. He had been able, in 1793, to provide a series of Singspiel for Friedrich-August of Brunswick-Öls, continuing a form of composition in which he had long been distinguished, but which were now impossible at Johannisberg. He died in 1799 at Neuhof in Bohemia, where he had settled at the invitation of Baron Ignaz von Stillfried.

"Dittersdorf was prolific as a composer, winning a reputation for his dramatic works, notable in the form of Singspiel, and his instrumental music, the later including some 120 symphonies, a series of concertos and a quantity of chamber music. His vocal and choral music included four successful oratorios. The Irish tenor Michael Kelly, the first Don Basilio in Mozart's 'Le nozza di Figaro', reports having heard Dittersdorf in a quartet at the house of his friend Stephen Storace, with Haydn playing first violin, Dittersdorf second, Mozart viola and the composer Vanhal cello. Dittersdorf as a respected figure in the musical circles of the time, welcomed and engaged in conversation by the Emperor himself, as he recounted to his son.

"Six of the twelve 'Symphonies after the Metamorphoses of Ovid' survive in their original form. These were written in 1783 and introduced to the public in Vienna three years later, when Dittersdorf had occasion to visit the city for the first performance of his oratorio 'Giobbe' (Job). He related in his autobiography how, by special permission of the Emperor, he had arranged to have six of the symphonies performed in the Augarten, an event for which Baron van Swieten, arbiter of musical taste at court and patron of Mozart and Haydn, had taken a hundred tickets. Bad weather led him to try to postpone the concert, but difficulties arose when he sought permission from the police, since a new decision of the cabinet was needed for any such change of plan. Dittersdorf was obliged to seek out a court official to authorise the postponement and in doing so found himself in conversation with the Emperor himself, an even that he recounts in some detail.

"The 'Metamorphoses' of the Roman poet Ovid contains, in its fifteen books, a compendium of Greek and Roman mythology and legend. In spite of the title, this is not simple a book of changes in Latin hexameters, but an inspired and episodic narrative, in which stories are only loosely connected one to the other. Opening with Chaos, Ovid soon moved on to the four ages of the world, the subject of the first of Dittersdorf's symphonies, the 'Sinfonia in C major, Die vier Weltalter'. Scored for flute, pairs of oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani, with strings, the first movement introduces the peace of the golden age - 'aurea prima sata est aetas', the golden age was first established, an age in which men kept faith without any compulsion. The movement is dominated by its tranquil opening theme and is followed by an evocation of the silver age - 'subiit argentea proles auro deterior', there followed the silver race, lesser than gold, more precious than tawny bronze, now with its four season. The music is livelier in a tripartite sonata-form movement. This leads to the 'Minuetto con garbo', a graceful minuet, to represent the age of bronze - 'teria post illas successit aëna proles', third after those followed the bronze race, more savage in spirit and prompter to make war. The A minor minuet is angular in theme, with a trio section of greater suavity. The symphony ends with the age of iron - 'de duro est ultima ferro', the last is of hard iron, an age when all wickedness is let loose. A descending chromatic figure opens the movement in increasingly rapid note values, continuing with a military fanfare and music of greater excitement which eventually subsides, leading a final 'Allegretto' that is gracious enough at first, but ends with the agitation of an age of violence.

"The second of the set, the 'Symphony in D major, Der Sturz Phaëtons', with similar instrumentation but no timpani, deals with Ovid's version of the legend of Phaëthon, son of Helios (the Sun) and Clymene, a mortal. Phaëthon sought out his father, who offered him one gift, whatever he should ask. Phaëthon asked to drive his father's chariot for one day and, in spite of his father's warning, attempted this feat. The horses of the Sun bolted and brought danger of fire to the earth, until Zeus, the king of the gods, hurled a thunderbolt at him. Phaëthon fell into the river Eridanus, where he died. Dittersdorf's first movement reflects the first line of Ovid's narrative - 'Regia Solis erat sublimibus alta columnis', the royal seat of the Sun was on high with lofty columns, bright with shining gold and gilded bronze like flames. Syncopation lends a feeling of impending doom to the music, with its scintillating ornamentation and, in the 'Allegro', contrasts of dynamics. The narrative continues in the 'Andante' - 'deposuit radios propiusque accedere iussit', the Sun laid aside the shining rays about his head and ordered the boy to come nearer, accepting him as his son. Here the bassoon doubles the first violin at the octave, accompanied by a descending accompanying figure in the other strings, with music that again offers the dynamic contrast of divine father and mortal son. 'Paenituit iurasse patrem', his father was sorry to have sworn to grant Phaëthon's wish, for this is the one thing he would have denied him. The story and symphony end with the final catastrophe - 'Intonat, et dextra libratum fulmen ab aure / misit in aurigam pariterque animaque rotisque / expulit et saevis compescuit ignibus ignes', Zeus thunders and hurled his thunderbolt at the charioteer, expelling him from life and from his chariot and curbed fire with savage fire. Opening in B minor, with syncopation again suggesting what is to come, the music gives a dramatic representation of the fall of Phaëthon, ending in hushed tones, the solar eclipse that took place as the Sun mourned his loss.

"The 'Symphony in G major, Verwandlung Aktäons in einen Hirsch', now also without trumpets, is a true tale of metamorphosis, taken from the following, third book of Ovid's poem. Dittersdorf chooses only a short phrase as superscription - 'per devia lustra vagantes', wandering through out-of-the-way woods, as the young men end their hunting. The music brings suggestions of the hunt in its ascending fanfare arpeggios and its haloos, but is followed by a gentler pastoral 'Adagio', with a flute solo over the traditional figuration for murmuring streams of breezes. The quotation from Ovid at the head of the movmement declares that 'hic dea silvarum venatu fessa solebat / virgineos artus liquido perfundere rore', here the goddess of the woods, tired from hunting, was wont to bathe her virgin limbs in dew. A minuet introduces Actaeon, grandson of Cadmus - 'Ecce nepos Cadmi' - who strays in the grove where the goddess is. The finale sees the goddess take her revenge. Actaeon is changed into a stag and torn apart by his own dogs - 'dilacerant falsi dominum sub imagine cervi', the dogs tear their master apart under the false appearances of a stag. Once again the agitation of the music subsides, as the story comes to an end." (Keith Anderson. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Failoni Orchestra, Hanspeter Gmür

1. Sinfonia No. 1 In C Major 'The Four Ages Of The World': I. Larghetto

2. Sinfonia No. 1 In C Major 'The Four Ages Of The World': II. Allegro E Vivace

3. Sinfonia No. 1 In C Major 'The Four Ages Of The World': III. Minuetto Con Garbo

4. Sinfonia No. 1 In C Major 'The Four Ages Of The World': IV. Finale. Prestissimo - Allegretto

5. Sinfonia No. 2 In D Minor 'The Fall Of Phaëton': I. Adagio Non Molto - Allegro

6. Sinfonia No. 2 In D Minor 'The Fall Of Phaëton': II. Andante

7. Sinfonia No. 2 In D Minor 'The Fall Of Phaëton': III. Tempo Di Minuetto

8. Sinfonia No. 2 In D Minor 'The Fall Of Phaëton': IV. Finale. Vivace Ma Non Troppo Presto - Andantino

9. Sinfonia No. 3 In G Major 'Transformation Of Actaeon Into A Stag': I. Allegro

10. Sinfonia No. 3 In G Major 'Transformation Of Actaeon Into A Stag': II. Adagio (Più Tosto Andantino)

11. Sinfonia No. 3 In G Major 'Transformation Of Actaeon Into A Stag': III. Tempo Di Minuetto

12. Sinfonia No. 3 In G Major 'Transformation Of Actaeon Into A Stag': IV. Finale. Vivace

flac/16-bit

Thomas Arne - Artaxerxes

"Thomas Arne was one of the great survivors of eighteenth-century theatrical life. His career began brilliantly. In his early twenties he put on an unauthorized production of 'Alcis and Galatea' that prodded Handel into taking English seriously as a language for theatrical works. A few years later his own masues 'Comus' and 'Alfred' established him as the leading English theatrical composer, a reputation that was confirmed by the delightful incidental music he wrote in the early 1740s for Shakespeare's plays; his settings are the ones most people associate with 'Blow, blow thou winter wind', 'Where the bee sucks' or 'Under the greenwood tree'. Thereafter, for one reason or another, Arne did not have a major success for nearly twenty years. He wrote an immense amount of theatre music of all types during this period, but most of it was a failure and was never printed, and is therefore lost today. He was dogged by his quarrelsome disposition, the failure of his marriage (his wife Cecilia was his leading lady), and his tendency to write his own librettos - he was no writer. By the late 1750s he was short of money and resorted to publishing some of the music he had written over the two previous decades.

"With this is in mind, we can appreciate the scale of his achievement at the beginning of the next decade. Things began to look up in 1759 when he received a doctorate from Oxford University and launched the stage career of his pupil and mistress Charlotte Brent. In the next three years he had three smash hits in a row, each an original masterpiece that effectively created a new genre. 'Thomas and Sally', produced at Covent Garden on 28 November 1760, was an imitation of 'La serva padrona' and the other all-sung Italian burlettas that had been presented so successfully by Italian troupes all over northern Europe in the 1750s; it was, in effect, the first English comic opera. 'Artaxerxes', produced at Covent Garden on 2 February 1762, was the serious equivalent of 'Thomas and Sally'. It was the first attempt to set a full-blown 'opera seria' libretto in English. 'Love in a Village', produced on 8 December of the same year, was equally novel: it was a modernized ballad opera, with borrowed Italian arias and specially composed numbers as well as folk tunes, all orchestrated in an up-to-date manner. It began a vogue for pastiche opera that lasted well into the nineteenth century.

"The libretto Arne chose for his 'opera seria' was not new. Metastasio wrote it in 1729, when it was set by Hasse and Vinci, and it subsequently attracted the attention of Gluck, Graun, Jommelli and J.C. Bach, among others. Arne probably knew the Hasse version, for it was given in London in 1754. The libretto was published anonymously, but it has been assumed to be his own work: in the preface the author admits that it is his 'first attempt of the kind', and defends his work by quoting Dryden: 'No critic can justly determine the merit or difficulty of writing a poem for music, 'till he has been frequently conversant with some skilful musician, and acquired, by experience, a knowledge of what is most proper for musical expression.' It must be said that this did not save Arne from a number of stilted passages, but in general the adapted libretto ('leaving out many beauties in the narrative part of the drama, for the sake of brevity') is an effective vehicle for the music.

"'Artaxerxes' has not come down to us complete. We are fortunate that he published it in full score in 1762, but the three volumes omit the recitatives and the final chorus (which, following 'opera seria' practice, was probably essentially an ensemble of the soloists). The original performing material was apparently lost in a fire that destroyed the first Covent Garden theatre in 1808, but since the opera was still in the repertory, a new, shortened version was made by Henry Bishop in 1813, and this was later published in vocal score by John Addison, who provided an invaluable stage-history of the work in the preface. Addison included Bishop's anachronistic settings as part of the final chorus and one of the accompanied recitatives, as well as about half the secco recitatives recquired by the 1762 libretto.

"It has been assumed that the secco recitatives are also Bishop's work, composed after Arne's were lost, but the late Roger Fiske pointed out that they survive in mangled form, with awkward key transitions at the point where Bishop made cuts, or in those places where arias had been transposed to suit changing vocal requirements. Thus, they seem to precede these changes, and they probably derive from a manuscript of the original version of the work that survived the 1808 fire at Covent Garden. Earlier modern revivals (conducted by Charles Farncombe at the St. Pancras Festival in March 1962 and by Maurits Sillem for the BBC in 1979) essentially used the Bishop-Addison version, but this recording I have attempted to reconstruct the work as originally performed in 1762. I have revised the surviving recitatives, replacing their unstylish piano part with an eighteenth century bass line and removing the more dubious ornaments. I have also composed the missing recitatives and borrowed material for two numbers in 'Comus' to provide a setting for the chorus.

"In part, 'Artaxerxes' was successful because it was an excellent vehicle for great singing. In the original cast Charlotte Brent sang Mandane, and the great Handelian tenor John Beard (by then the manager of Covent Garden and near the end of his career) took the part of the villain Artabanes. The two castrato parts, Arbaces and Artaxerxes, were taken by Tenducci and Peretti, while the lesser roles of Rimenes and Semire were sung by George Mattocks and Miss Thomas. The role of Arbaces was and is a particular problem, since it is too high for countertenors, and after the first production it was usually played as a breeches part by a female mezzo-soprano - a solute we have adopted in this recording. Virtually all the great singers of the period sang in the opera over the next few decades, including Elizabeth Billington, Charles Incledon, Charles Frederick Reinhold, Anne Catley, Anna Maria Crouch and Elizabeth Mara. Mandane's spectacular aria in Act III, 'The Soldier, tir'd of War's Alarms', remained a show-piece for sopranos through much of the nineteenth century, and has never dropped entirely out of the repertory.

"Charles Burney, who could never resist a sly dig at his former teacher, accused Arne of crowding 'the airs, particularly in the part of Mandane for Miss Brent, with most of the Italian division and difficulties which had ever been heard at the opera', though he admitted that 'Arne had the merit of first adapting many of the best passages of Italy, which all Europe admired, to our own language'. In fact Arne was just the first English composer to expand the Baroque vocal technique established in England by Handel, and his innovations, brilliantly demonstrated in performance by Charlotte Brent, were soon taken up by other English composers. Arne was one of the great singing teachers of the period, witness Thomas Busby's story in his 'Concert Room and Orchestra Anecdotes' (1825):

"'Of all the English singing-masters of the last century, no one was so attentive to that first of vocal excellencies, -articulation-, as Dr. Arne. His favourite scholar, Miss Brent, afterwards Mrs. Pinto, and the original Mandane, was more remarkable for the distinctness of her pronunciation, than any British 'prima donna' that has since appeared. The acquisition, however, was made at the expense of infinite labour to the tutor, and no small mortification to the pupil. What he would only allow to be difficult, she would often pronounce to be impossible: but he never relaxed in his exactions of her application, till his success convinced her of her mistake. On one occcasion, the lady gave at once a striking proof of her impatience and her taste. Exasperated with fatigue, she absolutely refused to practise any longer a particular song, in which the Doctor was anxious she should be perfect; upon which he threatened to find another singer for her intended part in 'Artaxerxes'. The menace was no sooner uttered than she burst into tears, and said, she would rather practise night and day, till she pleased him in the song, than not be one of the performers of the exquisite music of that opera, about half of which was then composed.'

"'Artaxerxes' is also remarkable for the richness of its scoring. Arne wrote effectively for the orchestra in a Handelian idiom from the beginning of his career, but in the 1750s he began to be much more adventurous. He was the first English composer to use the clarinet, and in 'Artaxerxes' he deploys wind instruments with verve and brilliance, though in such a way that the sound of a complete Classical orchestra could be produced by about a dozen players: the oboists also played flutes and clarinets, while the occasional trumpet and timpani parts might have been taken by spare violinists. The first Act of 'Artaxerxes' opens with a striking evocation of the dawn, rendered by a wind band with double bass and continuo but without cellos. In 'Water parted from the Sea', the famous simile aria sung by Arbaces in Act III, the flowing river is beautifully portrayed by dense writing for pairs of clarinets, horns and bassoons with strings. But Arne did not rely just on rich wind writing. In 'O too lovely, too unkind', sung by Arbaces in Act I, he achieved equally striking effects just with strings, muting the violins, dividing the violas and mixing pizzicato and arco.

"Perhaps the most striking feature of Arne's opera is its stylistic diversity. In 'opera seria' character is revealed through a series of contrasted arias, varied in scoring and mood; the leading roles appear as more rounded characters simply because they have the most numbers. In 'Artaxerxes' Arne took this technique a stage further, reserving the most advanced and richly scored arias for the main characters. Most of those sung by Arbaces and Mandane are in the 'galant' style, and have prominent wind solos, while the three sung by Rimenes are scored only for strings: one is in the Handelian style, and the others are in the simple and charming folk-like idiom Arne had pioneered in the 1730s. Variety of this sort aided characterization and made larg-scale works agreeably varied, but modern critics, influenced by nineteenth-century ideas of progress and unity in art, tend to see it as a weakness.

"Two centuries on, it is hard to understand how important 'Artaxerxes' was at the time, and how important it might have been. We know that it did not lead to the founding of a national school of all-sung serious opera. Londoners continued to be entertained by Italian 'opera seria' and pastiche English comic operas with spoken dialogue far into the nineteenth century. But that was not obvious in the 1760s, and subsequent developments were mainly the result of a series of historical accidents. 'Artaxerxes' certainly inspired a number of imitations, and had the right composer been on hand to develop what Arne started, things might have been very different. As it was, the opera held the stage for more than seventy years, and must have been familiar to virtually every educated person in London. Haydn, who saw it in 1791, was delighted with it, and reportedly said he 'had no idea we had such an opera in the English language'. Few people in modern times can have said anything else." (Peter Holman, 1995. From the liner notes.)

Performers: The Parley of Instruments, Roy Goodman, Catherine Bott, Patricia Spence, Christopher Robson, Ian Partridge, Richard Edgar-Wilson, Philippa Hyde

1.1. Overture

1.2. Act I: 'Still Silence Reigns Around'

1.3. Act I: 'Fair Aurora, Pr'ythee Stay;

1.4. Act I: 'Alas, Thou Know'st That For My Love Of Thee'

1.5. Act I: 'Adieu, Thou Lovely Youth'

1.6. Act I: 'O Cruel Parting!'

1.7. Act I: 'Amid A Thousand Racking Woes'

1.8. Act I: 'Be Firm My Heart'

1.9. Act I: 'Behold, On Lethe's Dismal Strand'

1.10. Act I: 'Stay, Artaxerxes, Stay'

1.11. Act I: 'Fair Semira, Lovely Maid'

1.12. Act I: 'I Fear Some Dread Disaster'

1.13. Act I: 'When Real Joys We Miss'

1.14. Act I: 'Ye Gods, Protectors Of The Persian Empire'

1.15. Act I: 'How Hard Is The Fate'

1.16. Act I: 'Where Do I Fly?'

1.17. Act I: 'Thy Father! Away, I Renounce The Soft Claim'

1.18. Act I: 'Ye Cruel Gods, What Crime Have I Committed?'

1.19. Act I: 'Acquit Thee Of This Foul Offence'

1.20. Act I: 'Appearance, I Must Own, Is Strong Against Me'

1.21. Act I: 'O Too Lovely, Too Unkind'

1.22. Act I: 'Dear & Beloved Shade Of My Dead Father'

1.23. Act I: 'Fly, Soft Ideas, Fly'

1.24. Act II: 'Guards, Speed Ye To The Tower'

1.25. Act II: 'In Infancy, Our Hopes & Fears'

1.26. Act II: 'So Far My Great Resolve Succeeds'

1.27. Act II: 'Disdainful You Fly Me'

1.28. Act II: 'Why My Dear Friend, So Pensive, So Inactive?'

1.29. Act II: 'To Sigh & Complain'

1.30. Act II: 'How Many Links To Dire Misfortune's Chain!'

1.31. Act II: 'If O'er The Cruel Tyrant Love'

1.32. Act II: 'Which Fatal Evil Shall I First Oppose?'

1.33. Act II: 'If The River's Swelling Waves'

2.1. Act II: 'Ye Solid Pillars Of The Persian Empire'

2.2. Act II: 'By That Belov'd Embrace'

2.3. Act II: 'Ah Me! At Poor Arbaces Parting'

2.4. Act II: 'Monster, Away!'

2.5. Act II: 'See, Lov'd Semira!'

2.6. Act II: 'Thou, Like The Glorious Sun'

2.7. Act II: 'Why Is Death For Ever Late'

2.8. Act II: 'Arbaces!'

2.9. Act II: 'Water Parted From The Sea'

2.10. Act III: 'That Front, Secure In Conscious Innocence'

2.11. Act III: 'Tho' Oft A Cloud, With Envious Shade'

2.12. Act III: 'My Son, Arbaces - Where Art Thou Retir'd?'

2.13. Act III: 'O Let The Danger Of A Son'

2.14. Act III: 'Ye Adverse Gods!'

2.15. Act III: 'O, Much Lov'd Son, If Death'

2.16. Act III: 'Perhaps The King Releas'd Arbaces'

2.17. Act III: 'Let Not Rage Thy Bosom Firing'

2.18. Act III: 'What Have I Done! Alas, I Vainly Thought'

2.19. Act III: ''Tis Not True, That In Our Grief'

2.20. Act III: 'Nor Here My Searching Eyes Can Find Mandane'

2.21. Act III: 'For Thee I Live, My Dearest'

2.22. Act III: 'To You My People, Much Belov'd, I Offer'

2.23. Act III: 'The Soldier, Tir'd Of War's Alarms'

2.24. Act III: 'Behold My King, Arbaces At Thy Feet'

2.25. Act III: 'Live To Us, To Empire Live'

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Marc-Antoine Charpentier - La Descente d'Orphée aux Enfers

"Charpentier was born in Paris in 1643. We know nothing of his early life in France, but in the 1660s he went to Rome, where he studied for several years with Giacomo Carissimi, master composer of church music, oratorios, and chamber cantatas. Back in Paris about 1670, Charpentier was apparently given lodging and support by the pious, music-loving Marie de Lorraine, duchesse de Guise (always called 'Mademoiselle de Guise'); he remained in her service, as composer and singer, until about 1687. During the same period, however, he collaborated with the Troupe de Roi - Molière's company, renamed the Comédie Française - composing songs, orchestral overtures, and dances for their plays, and comic skits for the intermèdes between acts. He came close to service at court for a few years (around 1680), as composer for the chapel of the Dauphin - and wrote for him one of two operatio divertissements ('Les plaisirs de Versailles', perhaps also 'La fête de Ruel') - but was never appointed by Louis XIV to a royal post.

"By the mid-1680s, having achieved a considerable reputation as a composer of sacred music, Charpentier was appoint maître de musique at the most prestigious Jesuit church in Paris, St. Louis, renowned for the high quality of its music. And ultimately, in 1698, he became maître de musique at the Saint-Chapelle, a position in French sacred music second only to that of music director in the King's chapel. He remained there until his death early in 1704.

"Quite possibly, had Jean-Baptiste Lully and Michel Richard de Lalande not dominated so successfully the music at the court of Louis XIV, Charpentier might himself have become a figure there and composed more instrumental music and especially works for the theatre. He had great talent for musical drama, as is apparently in the stage work we have by him - notably the sacred opera 'David et Jonathas' (1688); 'Médée', perhaps the greatest masterpiece (produced at the Académie Royale, the Opéra, in 1693); and operatic divertissements, pastorales, and cantates - not to mention dozens of dramatic motets (histoires sacrées). With 'La descente d'Orphée aux enfers', Charpentier joined the many composers drawn to the myth of Orphée as the basis for operas.

"Understandably: not only is it a poignant love story and dramatic tragedy, it celebrates the mysterious and formidable power of music itself, over even supernatural forces. The earliest surviving operas, composed in Italy about 1600, were based on that myth (settings by each of the Florentines Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini of Rinuccini's libretto, 'Euridice', and Claudio Monteverdi's masterpiece, for Mantua, to Striggio's 'Orfeo'). Other operatic versions predating Charpentier's were Stefano Landi's 'La morte d'Ortfeo' (1619) and Luigi Rossi's 'Orfeo' (1647) - which was staged at the Palais Royal, as part of Mazarin's campaign to italianize French culture. Charpentier himself composed a sort of warm-up for 'La descente d'Orphée' in a chamber cantata (probably the first of that genre by a French composer): 'Orphée descendant aux enfers', a modest work for three male singers (representing Orphée and the shades Ixion and Tantale) and a small chamber ensemble.

"About three years later - late 1686 or early 1687 - came 'La descente d'Orphée aux enfers'. Charpentier composed it for the musicians of M'lle de Guise, though we know nothing about the circumstances of its performance. Although not on the grand scale of the 'tragédies en musique' staged at court (with their full orchestras, generous corps de ballet, massive choruses, and panopolies of solo-vocalists), the work called for the entire musical équipe of M'lle de Guise, plus some extra instrumentalists: Charpentier's manuscript mentions by name five female and five male singers, with an instrumental ensemble consisting of flutes (alternating with violins), viols, and harspichord. 'La descente d'Orphée' seems also to have been the last major work in which Charpentier participated as a singer: he had been for years the principal 'haute-contre' of the de Guise establishment, but in this opera, a newly appointed one, François Anthoine, sang the title role and Charpentier was relegated to the secondary one of Ixion. Charpentier's score also mentions (as player of flute or violin) 'Luollié' - Etienne Loulié, best-known as a music theorist - and a pair of flautists, 'Anth' and 'Pierrot', probably the brothers Antoine and Pierre of the family Pièche, well known at the time in court circles. Various 'chœurs' appear in the opera: a high-voiced 'Chœur de Nymphes' and a mixed-voice 'chœur de Nymphes et de Bergers' in Act I; in Act II, a mixed 'Chœur de Furies', a slighter 'Chœur d'Ombres heureuses et de Furies'. Not independent choral ensembles, these were varied combinations of the named solo singers, who may also have served as dancers for the brief ballet entrées in both acts.

"In sum, as conceived by Charpentier, 'La descente d'Orphée' was a chamber opera, probably performed only once - and not in public but in the private quarters of M'lle de Guise (or perhaps of her less single-mindedly devout younger relative known as Mme. de Guise').

"The librettist of 'La descente d'Orphée is unknown, but the ultimate source is the 'Metamorphoses' of Ovid (Libre X, histoire 1). The leading actors in the drama are, of course, Orphée and his bride Euridice (the latter mortally stung by a serpent on their wedding day). To Ovid's couple the librettist added, in the happy first scene of Act I, some nymphs and shepherds; as the act ends, Apollon, father of Orphée, also makes a brief appearance, inviting Orphée to go to Hades and persuade its sovereign, Pluton, to allow Euridice to return to the upper world. (Apollon appears similarly as 'deus ex machina' in Monteverdi's 'Orfeo'.) In Act II, the opera's underworld characters are all Ovidian: the 'ombres coupables' Tantale (punished by eternal hunger and thirst), Ixion (bound to a revolving wheel), and Titye (his liver torn by vultures), as well as a crowd of Furies - all brought to tears (the Furies for the first time ever) by the beauty of Orphée's singing.

"Pluton is at first resistant to Orphée's pleading and not persuaded by Orphée's argument (as related by Ovid) that, after all, both Euridice and Orphée must eventually return to Hades and thus, surely, Pluton can afford to make a temporary -loan- of Euridice! Ultimately, however, implored by his queen Proserpine (supported and echoed by groups of shades), Pluton yields and gives permission for Euridice to be restored to Orphée.

"And here is where Charpentier's opera ends - or, at least, where the unique surviving score (the composer's autograph) ends. Some believe that he intended to end here - and indeed, Act II has an effective conclusion, a 'Sarabande légère' to be danced by the 'Fantômes' who, moments before, have lamented that the beautiful voice of Orphée will be only a 'souvenir si doux' when he departs with Euridice. I believe, however, that Charpentier planned (and may in fact have composed) a third, concluding act, the music for which has not survived.

"The little opera is full of musical charm and cunning characterization. It opens with an overture that is vaguely Lullian (in two parts, each repeated, the first a sort of march, the second a livelier, more contrapuntal triple-meter dance), but lighter in texture and briefer than most overtures by Lully - perfectly appropriate in scale for the chamber opera to follow. The tonality is A-major, characterized as 'joyeux et champêtre' by Charpentier in a list he once drew up of 'Energie des modes', thus preparing perfectly the pastoral ambience with which the drama opens.

"Nymphs and shepherds celebrate the marriage of Orphée and Euridice with bright, light songs and dances. These are interrupted by a single cry - 'Ah!' - from Euridice, which her friend Enone blithely laughs off as due only to a thorn-prick. But Euridice's next words contradict her: 'Soutiens-moi, chère Enone, un serpent m'a blessée'. Charpentier sets these to a descending bass figure much favored by Baroque-era composers as an 'emblem of lament' (as the American musicologist Ellen Rosand has put it), and with it a shift from A-major to A-minor ('tendre et plaintif') for the brief, heartbreaking scene of Euridicie's death. The same 'emblem of lament' marks Orphée's griefstricken reaction to Euridice's loss (and the chorus's echo of it), and the gloomy pall of A-minor hovers over the mournful scene, which ends with Orphée wishing death for himself. Whereupon Apollon appears (to mild music - but in the key of C-major, 'gai et guerrier', according to Charpentier). He succeeds in arguing Orphée out of suicide and into a determination - not a very optimistic one, as both his words and the music to A-minor tell us - to attempt to gain back Euridice.

"Act II is set in Hades, and we hear first the bitter complaints of the trio of guilty, tortured shades (Ixion, Tantale, and Titye). Orphée sings - to a new, alluring soft sonority: viols, not the more brilliant violins or the rustic flutes heard before - and the shades, even the 'Chœur de Furies', are utterly beguiled ('Que tes chants ont d'appas!'). Pluton and Proserpine appear. Orphée goes to work - sensuously, seductively, lyrically - overcome Pluton's blustering opposition. (Prosperine is immediately won over, as is the Chœur d'Ombres heureuses'.)

"The more Pluton denies him, the more Orphée's song becomes persuasively voluptuous (and the more Proserpine pleads on his behalf). Finally Pluton relents (before he and his queen depart) - warning Orphée, however, that although Euridice will follow him, Orphée is not to look back to make sure. Orphée has one final prophetic couplet - 'Amour, brûlant Amour, pourras-tu te contraindre?'/'Ah! Que le tendre Orphée à lui-même est à craindre' - before he too leaves the stage. The trio of 'Coupables' and the 'Chœur d'ombres heureuses et de Furies' are left to lament his loss, or rather that of his captivating voice - but their music belies their words: foreshadowing in both its bright D-major key ('joyeux et très guerrier') and its rhythms the finale 'Sarabande légère', it seems in fact to be voicing joy over the lovers' reunion. (H. Wiley Hitchcock. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Patricia Petibon, Monique Zanetti, Kátalin Karolyim, Sophie Daneman, Paul Agnew, Jean-François Gardeil, Steve Dugardin, François Piolino, Fernand Bernadi

1. Ouverture

2. Acte I, Scène I: 'Inventons Mille Jeux Divers'/'Ruisseau Qui Dans Ce Beau Séjour'

3. Acte I, Scène I: 'Compagnes Fidèles'

4. Acte I, Scène I: 'Soutiens-moi, Chère Énone'/Scène II: 'Qu'ai-je Entendu, Que Vois-je?'

5. Acte I, Scène II: 'Ah! Bergers, C'en Est Fait'

6. Acte I, Scène II: Entrée De Nymphes Et De Bergers Désespérés/'Lâche Amant'

7. Acte I, Scène III: 'Ne Tourne Point, Mon Fils'

8. Acte I, Scène III: 'Que D'un Frivole Espoir'/'Juste Sujet De Pleurs'

9. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène I: Prélude/'Affreux Tourments'

10. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène II: Prélude/'Cessez, Cessez, Fameux Coupables'

11. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène II: 'Je Ne Refuse Point Le Secours'/'Il N'est Rien Aux Enfers'

12. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène II: Les Fantômes

13. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: Prélude/'Que Cherche En Mon Palais'

14. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Je Ne Viens Point Ici'/'Pauvre Amant'

15. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Euridice N'est Plus'/'Le Destin Est Contraire' (Pluton) - 'Ah! Puisqu'avant Le Temps'

16. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Tu Ne La Perdras Point, Hélas'/'Quel Charme Imperieux'/'Courage Orphée'

17. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Souviens-toi Du Larcin'

18. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène III: 'Je Cède, Je Me Rends'

19. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène IV: 'Vous Partez Donc, Orphée'

20. Acte II 'L'Enfer', Scène IV: Entrée Des Fantômes

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Igor Stravinsky / Charles Wuorinen - The Flood; Abraham and Isaac; Variations; Requiem Canticles; A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky

"'The Flood' is a musical play for tenor solo, two bass soloists, chorus, speaking parts, and large orchestra. It is a large-scale piece, though extremely concise, as it was written for television. Subtitled a 'dance drama,' Stravinsky began composing 'The Flood' after a request from CBS Television in 1959. The text of the work is derived from a number of sources, including mediaeval pageants and Genesis. It was Stravinsky's intention to represent the divine power of God, manifested in the flood, rather than dramatizing the life of Noah. For Stravinsky, 'Noah is mere history,' while the flood, replete with contemporary allusions, is 'the Eternal Catastrophe...[it] is also The Bomb.' Though the staging is quite complex, and the musical forces quite large, the work is nonetheless extremely concise, taking only a half an hour to perform. The short duration is a reflection of Stravinsky's desire to reach and please a television audience. 

 

"Stravinsky used different music and techniques to represent the different characters in this work. While no one character is represented specifically by one singer, Stravinsky does differentiate between the supernatural and mortal characters. God is represented by two basses, while the mortal characters utilize speaking parts. The work is divided into six parts: 'Prelude,' 'The Building of the Ark,' 'The Catalogue of the Animals,' 'The Comedy,' 'The Flood,' and 'The Covenant of the Rainbow.' 'The Building of the Ark' and 'The Flood' are choreographed sections, with pantomime and dancing. The other sections are divided into subsections, with singing juxtaposed with spoken narration. 

 

"'The Flood' is a serial work, and shows a particularly relaxed approach to serial composition, with the tone-rows effectively interrupted. Eric Walter White has noted that in certain sections notes are repeated, as Stravinsky disrupts the integrity of the row in order to suggest chant. It is also, as White points out, a work that is strongly based on harmony, or vertical organization, rather than melody, or horizontal considerations. This is important to note, as most of Stravinsky¹s oeuvre is remarkable for its contrapuntal texture." (Summary of 'The Flood' by Alexander Carpenter. From AllMusic. See here.)

Performers: London Sinfonietta, New London Chamber Choir, Oliver Knussen

1. The Flood: Prelude. 'Te Deum Laudamus'

2. The Flood: Melodrama. 'In A Worm's Likeness Will He Wend'

3. The Flood: The Building Of The Ark (Choreography)

4. The Flood: The Catalogue Of The Animals. 'The Lord Bade That I Should Bring'

5. The Flood: The Comedy (Noah And His Wife). 'Wife, Come In!'

6. The Flood: The Flood (Choreography)

7. The Flood: The Covenant Of The Rainbow. 'A Covenant, Noah, With Thee I Make'

8. Abraham And Isaac: 'Vay'hi Ahar Hadvarim Ha'eleh V'ha'Elohim'

9. Abraham And Isaac: 'Vayikakh Avraham Et Atze Ha'olah'

10. Abraham And Isaac: 'Vayi Sa Avraham Et Enav Vayat V'hineh'

11. Variations: Aldous Huxley In Memoriam

12. Requiem Canticles: Prelude

13. Requiem Canticles: Exaudi

14. Requiem Canticles: Dies Irae

15. Requiem Canticles: Tuba Mirum

16. Requiem Canticles: Interlude

17. Requiem Canticles: Rex Tremendae

18. Requiem Canticles: Lacrimosa

19. Requiem Canticles: Libera Me

20. Requiem Canticles: Postlude

21. A Reliquary For Igor Stravinsky: Reliquary

22. A Reliquary For Igor Stravinsky: Variation

23. A Reliquary For Igor Stravinsky: Lament

24. A Reliquary For Igor Stravinsky: Variation Continued

25. A Reliquary For Igor Stravinsky: Reliquary

26. A Reliquary For Igor Stravinsky: Coda

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Joseph Haydn - Piano Sonatas Nos. 29 & 33-35

 

"Haydn wrote his 'Sonata No. 29 in E-flat major, Hob. XVI:45', in 1766, an important year in his life. To his relief, the old Kapellmeister Gregor Werner died in March, a few months after he had complained bitterly and unjustifiably of Haydn's neglect of his duties. His death brought Haydn the undisputed succession and allowed him now to buy a house in Eisenstadt, still the principal residence of the Esterhazy family. The sonata, described in its title as a Divertimento, was intended for the harpsichord, the likely choice of instrument for all the earlier sonatas. The first movement opens with a characteristic melody, marked by a rising third. There is a contrasting second subject, accompanied by the broken chords of an Alberti bass, before the end of the exposition, which is then repeated. The central development very properly makes opening reference to the first subject, in a minor key, and this returns in due form to start the recapitulation, separated from the second subject by a brief element of drama. The A-flat major Andante, leading to a secondary theme in the key of E-flat, completes the first section of the movement, which is then repeated. The second section opens with the first theme, now in E-flat major, introducing a development of the material, which is finally heard again in recapitulation. The last movement follows the same formal pattern, its secondary theme offering a chance for modest display in its pattern of repeated notes. Again the first section is repeated, followed by a central development that begins with a reference to the first subject. The movement continues with a recapitulation of the material, suggesting at times the textures and harmonies familiar from the work of Domenico Scarlatti. 

 

"The dynamic directions in 'Sonata No. 33 in C minor, Hob. XVI:20', make it clear that it was designed for the Hammerklavier, the fortepiano, an instrument capable of making quick dynamic changes. The sonata was written in 1771 and its key of C minor is bound to remind a listener of the use that Mozart made of the same key in writing for the keyboard. It was one of a set of six keyboard sonatas by Haydn published in 1780 by Artaria with a dedication to Caterina and Marianna von Auenbrugger, pianists whose performance Haydn greatly admired. Leopold Mozart too wrote favourably of their talents during the course of a visit to Vienna in 1773, but his son, ten years later, was scathing about the achievement of their father, whom he refers to as Doctor Auernszucker, in a German opera libretto. Between the first subject and the E flat major second subject is a relatively extended passage that includes an element of rhetorical recitative, suggesting the influence of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, second son of Johann Sebastian, with whose earlier keyboard sonatas and writing on the subject Haydn had been familiar from his days in Vienna, after leaving the choir-school. In the central development, in which much initial use is made of the first subject, there is room for Sturm and Drang, before the return of the material, rhetorical recitative and all, in recapitulation. The opening theme is characterized by the repetition of the opening note of the melody. The repeated first section duly modulates from A-flat to E-flat major, before the central development, with its shifts of tonality, and the abridged recapitulation, in a movement great tenderness. There is inevitable drama in the last movement, broadly in the same formal pattern but allowing for purposeful technical display allied to strong feeling in a prophetic vein, a foretaste of the path the keyboard sonata was later to take. 

 

"Haydn's 'Sonata No. 34 in D major, Hob. XVI:33', has been conjecturally dated to the early 1770s, between 1771 and 1773. It was published in London by Beardmore & Birchall in 1783. The first movement, in an overtly cheerful mood, offers a repeated exposition, duly contrasting the tonic and dominant keys and finding room for an element of surprise, as it approaches its coda. The material is developed in a central section that again introduces moments of hesitation, a delay of expectation, before the recapitulation. The slow movement is in D minor, the opening soon lightened by a shift to F major for the secondary theme of a repeated exposition. The same key opens the development, but the original key soon returns to complete the movement in a recapitulation. The last movement starts with scarcely a pause. In the style of a minuet, this follows the principal theme with a D minor section. The major and minor themes are varied, with the D major returning finally in its original form, to undergo a further, concluding transformation. 

 

"The 'Sonata in A-flat major, Hob. XVI:43', was also published as one of the same set of three in London in 1783. It is thought to have been written between 1771 and 1773. The second subject of the repeated exposition at first suggests a transposition of the first theme, but soon moves into other territory in a display of triplet figuration. This rhythm, whether in accompaniment or in melodic contour, has a leading part to play in the central development, at the end of which a rhetorical pause leads to a recapitulation. The slow movement takes the form of a minuet and trio, both in the tonic key and suggesting the scherzo rather than the formal dance. The sonata ends with a Rondo, its first episode closely related to the sprightly first theme. A minor key episode introduces an element of dramatic tension, quickly dispelled by the return of the principal theme. When it finally returns, after a further excursion into more dramatic territory, it is subject to subtle changes in outline, wide leaps in the right hand to test the accuracy of the performer, before the sonata comes to an end." (Keith Anderson. From the liner notes.)

 

Performer: Jenő Jandó

1. Piano Sonata No. 29 In E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:45: I. Moderato

2. Piano Sonata No. 29 In E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:45: II. Andante

3. Piano Sonata No. 29 In E-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:45: III. Finale: Allegro Di Molto

4. Piano Sonata No. 33 In C Minor, Hob. XVI:20: I. Moderato

5. Piano Sonata No. 33 In C Minor, Hob. XVI:20: II. Andante Con Moto

6. Piano Sonata No. 33 In C Minor, Hob. XVI:20: III. Finale: Allegro

7. Piano Sonata No. 34 In D Major, Hob. XVI:33: I. Allegro

8. Piano Sonata No. 34 In D Major, Hob. XVI:33: II. Adagio

9. Piano Sonata No. 34 In D Major, Hob. XVI:33: III. Tempo Di Menuet

10. Piano Sonata No. 35 In A-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:43: I. Moderato

11. Piano Sonata No. 35 In A-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:43: II. Menuetto

12. Piano Sonata No. 35 In A-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:43: III. Rondo: Presto

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Joseph Haydn - Piano Sonatas Nos. 20 & 30-32

 

"'Sonata No. 20 in B-flat major, Hob. XV1:18', among those apparently originally intended for harpsichord, has been conjecturally dated to 1766 or 1767. In March of the earlier year Gregor Werner had died, and Haydn had been appointed his successor, now finding it convenient, amid the re-organization of the Esterhazy musical establishment, to buy a house for himself in Eisenstadt. The ornamented first subject of the opening Allegro moderato, with its dotted, ascending arpeggio outline, leads, imperceptibly enough, to the now expected change of key to the dominant, F major, and to a secondary theme that involves the rhythmic variety of triplet semiquavers and syncopation. A reference to the first subject starts the central development of the material, with its changes of key and mode, before the recapitulation of the first section, with the modulation necessary for restoration of the original key. The B-flat major second movement, in triple time, follows a similar formal pattern, offering a secondary theme built on a descending sequence, a central development section and a final recapitulation. 

 

"'Sonata No. 32 in G minor, Hob. XVI:44', has been dated, again conjecturally, to the years from 1768 to 1770, although others, as with 'Sonata No. 20', have preferred a date between 1771 and 1773, providing only 1788 as a terminus post quem, the date of publication of Sonatas Nos. 31 and 32 by Artaria. The principal subject in G minor is followed by a brighter secondary subject in B-flat major, leading to the expected development, with its excursions into other keys and use of sequential patterns before the recapitulation and closing section. The following G minor Allegretto is contrasted with a G major section, both varied in turn on repetition. 

 

"For the 'Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Hob. XVI:46', the earlier dating of 1767 or 1768 is preferred. The choice of key allows for excursions into relatively unfamiliar territory as the sonata progresses. The opening subject of the first movement has all the rhythmic variety that is a feature of Haydn's melodic writing. A dramatic B-flat pedal-point precedes the second subject material, with its triplet semiquaver figuration and the development allows further varied elaboration of the pedal-point of the exposition. The following Adagio, in D-flat major, finds a place for contrapuntal writing, as the thematic material unwinds, again with contrasting secondary material in the dominant key and a varied repetition that moves to a brief cadenza before the final bars. The final movement, dominated by its principal theme, again allows infinite variety within its formal pattern. 

 

"'Sonata No. 30 in D major, Hob. XVI:19', the fourth sonata included here, also seemingly intended originally for harpsichord, has a dated autograph of 1767. The first movement, marked Moderato has a swinging first subject in the middle register of the keyboard. The secondary material makes use of descending and then ascending patterns of thirds and sixths, against a repeated note, and the closing section makes extensive use of an accompanying triadic pattern. The central development finds a place for drama, before three arpeggiated chords bring the section to an end, to be followed by the recapitulation. The A major Andante brings a little surprise in its initial presentation of the principal theme, very briefly interrupted by a sudden break in the first three bars, before resuming its full course. There is due contrast of key and theme in the secondary material, both to form the substance of the second section of the movement. The syncopated main subject of the Finale is followed by a D minor episode, re-appearing in a more elaborate form before a second, A major episode. The main theme returns once more, to be followed by a grander restatement, at first with a return of the original syncopation, before an Alberti bass moves the sonata towards its emphatic conclusion." (Keith Anderson. From the liner notes.)

Performer: Jenő Jandó

1. Piano Sonata No. 20 In B-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:18: I. Allegro Moderato

2. Piano Sonata No. 20 In B-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:18: II. Moderato

3. Piano Sonata No. 32 In G Minor, Hob. XVI:44: I. Moderato

4. Piano Sonata No. 32 In G Minor, Hob. XVI:44: II. Allegretto

5. Piano Sonata No. 31 In A-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:46: I. Allegro Moderato

6. Piano Sonata No. 31 In A-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:46: II. Adagio

7. Piano Sonata No. 31 In A-Flat Major, Hob. XVI:46: III. Finale - Presto

8. Piano Sonata No. 30 In D Major, Hob. XVI:19: I. Moderato

9. Piano Sonata No. 30 In D Major, Hob. XVI:19: II. Andante

10. Piano Sonata No. 30 In D Major, Hob. XVI:19: III. Finale - Allegro Assai

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Black Leather Jesus / MSBR - Sonic Destruction

Split between Richard Ramirez's Black Leather Jesus moniker and the late great Koji Tano's 'Molten Salt Breeder Reactor' (MSBR). Both sides are fanatically intense, with Ramirez making more use of screeching sounds with high variation and Tano favouring a driving, building momentum of noise and atmosphere. Released on Ramirez's Deadline Recordings label in 1995 in an edition of three hundreds LPs.

A1. Black Leather Jesus - 1,000 Days

A2. Black Leather Jesus - Mock Injury Test

B1. MSBR - 14 Minutes Over Nagoya

B2. MSBR - Metaphysical Murder

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Pelt - Max Meadows

Early release from American psych-drone collective Pelt, recorded between 1995 and 1996 and released the following year. Features a customary blend of droning guitar feedback, with more of an intense distorted "rock" sound than later more roots-influenced material. The musicians here are very talented at created their rich, psychoactive carpet of chaotic sound and it is on full display here in a rougher, rawer form than we might be accustomed to.

1. Outside, Listening

2. Sun Is Standing

3. Sunken

4. Abcdelancey (Gimme That Dickel)

5. Samsara

6. Hippy War Machine

7. Dismal Falls

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Emil Beaulieau - Kill the All-Noise Japanese Artists

More tongue-in-cheek noise blasting from Emil Beaulieau. The premise here is the use of 'japanoise' artists as source material for Beaulieau's own work. This is a fine and bountiful premise and the results are reflective of both the quality and intensity of the sources and Beaulieau's own audio skill. The punk samples and quasi-ironic vocal wailing are present here but less so than other Beaulieau Pure releases posted recently (see here and here).

1. Merz Bow-Wow-Wow

2. Violins O.G.

3. Hi-Fi K. Dan

4. Madonna

5. NSBR

6. Nerd

7. Nell

8. Aude

9. Incapacitated

10. Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring

mp3/192kbps

Emil Beaulieau - Dedicated to Charlie Ward

Another early Pure release from label owner and great jester of noise Emil Beaulieau. This is primarily made of chopped and screwed samples from various extreme sources, from G.G. Allin (G.G. Junkie) to Merzbow (Abby Soda) to The Gerogerigegege (Gerogerigaygaygayhomofaggotqueerpansy). A whimsical mess of sound.

1. G.G. Junkie

2. Sugar Bullets

3. A&A

4. Perpetual Motor

5. Facts Ahead

6. Park Queer

7. Jeff Dugout

8. P69.D-Foul

9. Bigfootsies

10. Abby Soda

11. John Tease

12. Bring Downers

13. Obit

14. Staple Sneaks

15. Gerogerigaygaygayhomofaggotqueerpansy

mp3/320kbps

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina - Missa Sine Nomine; Missa L'homme Armé; Three Motets

"While the famous 'Missa Papae Marcelli' was a rather radical composition, the majority of Palestrina's masses were of a more conventional nature. Very often, they were modeled on the works of composers which had preceded him, though they were normally elaborations on [...] models from his counterparts.

"The two major works on this disc are both in six conventional sections: the 'Missa L'homme Armé' having been composed in around 1582, with the 'Missa Sine nomine' two years later. They are therefore from the latter years though dates of composition are, to say the least, somewhat blurred. He was even more prolific with his motets, with 177 published between 1563 and 1584 and a further 72 published after his death. Most are quite short but, of their type, are short masterpieces.

"[This] edition [...] makes an ideal introduction to his music, and it is superbly performed by [this] group from Bologna in a recording made in Verona during October 1995." (From the Naxos website.)

Performers: Soloists of the Cappella Musicale di S. Petronio di Bologna, Sergio Vartolo

1. Motet 'Peccantem Me Quotidie'
2. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Kyrie
3. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Gloria
4. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Credo
5. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Sanctus
6. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Agnus Dei I
7. Missa Sine Nomine A 6: Agnus Dei II
8. Motet 'Sicut Cervus'
9. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Kyrie
10. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Gloria
11. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Credo
12. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Sanctus
13. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Agnus Dei I
14. Missa L'homme Armé A 5: Agnus Dei II
15. Motet 'Super Flumina Babylonis'

flac/16-bit

Francesco Cavalli - La Calisto

"'La Calisto' received its premiere at the Teatro Sant' Apollinare, Venice, on 28 November 1651. It was Francesco Cavalli’s fifteenth opera, and his ninth to a libretto by Giovanni Faustini. As the mature fruit of its authors' collaboration, it was the culmination of one of the most productive and enduring partnerships in the history of the genre. Over the previous decade, that partnership had helped to establish many of the basic conventions of Venetian opera, some of which were to endure for centuries. The smallest theater in Venice, Sant' Apollinare was where in 1650 Faustini had started a new venture – after two years (of a three-year contract) as impresario at S. Moisè – to be joined by his brother Marco and other Venetian entrepreneurs. Calisto is one of the few seven-teenth-century operas for which we have substantial information about the production, thanks to the surviving account book of Marco Faustini: we know the names of the singers and the make-up of the instrumental ensemble (just two violins and continuo), and we have a record of the expenses for spectacular machines and scenography as well as itemized information about the preparation of the season, the run of the opera, the attendance figures – even the payments for the prima donna's gondola. Together with the printed libretto and the single surviving musical manuscript, which was used in the production by one of the continuo players, this wealth of evidence makes it possible to undertake a critical edition with a level of comprehension of the work and its text unusual for the period.

"Diverging from most of Cavalli and Faustini’s previous operas, Calisto is based on mythology. It combines two contrasting love stories involving the same Olympian goddess, Diana, which do not seem to have been associated in any previous source, whether ancient or modern. They concern the love between Jupiter (disguised as Diana) and the nymph Callisto; and that between Diana and the shepherd Endymion. The second story refers to still another mythological relationship, the love between Diana and Pan. Faustini articulates a brilliant plot which, while carefully respecting the essential elements of the Classical tradition, allows for the introduction of other elements typical of a Venetian operatic scheme; these include a number of comic and supporting roles, some of which have their own short, witty subplots. The opera was composed for the same season and cast as 'Eritrea' and premiered one month earlier than the usual opening date of the theaters (26 December), probably in order to preempt competition from the two other theaters operating in that season. The production was marked by tragedy: the leading male singer, the alto castrato Bonifazio Ceretti, who was to have sung Endimione, fell ill shortly before the first night and died a few weeks later, with the result that Cavalli was forced to adapt the role for a soprano and recast the production; two weeks later, on 19 December, Giovanni Faustini himself died. It is hard to imagine worse luck for a public entertainment, but nonetheless even after Faustini’s death the opera ran for four more performances. Although it is unclear how directly the double tragedy affected the production, the account book shows that it was a miserable failure: the opera was cancelled after eleven performances and never revived.

"Calisto's modern fortunes have been quite different. As part of Ray-mond Leppard’s rediscovery of Cavalli, it was produced at Glyndebourne in 1970, and there followed both a recording and an edition. Leppard’s score neither was nor pretended to be a critical edition, but was rather a thorough-going adaptation that had in mind a public whose expectations were substantially different from those of the original seventeenth-century audience. The production and edition generated interest in Cavalli’s music, and particularly in Calisto: slowly, over the following decades, the work found increasing popularity both in major opera houses and in smaller, academic venues; some performances were based on Leppard’s score, but many others used editions which never reached the press. The exception was Jennifer Brown’s critical edition, which was used in a number of productions beginning in the mid-1990s and has recently been published. The production for La Monnaie in Brussels in 1993, by René Jacobs and Herbert Wernicke, was also recorded and presented in a number of European cities in the following years, and represents the consacration of Calisto as an icon of Baroque opera. At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Calisto has found its way into the repertory of opera houses around the world." (Álvaro Torrente. From the introduction to the 2012 Bärenreiter Verlag edition of the opera. Read in full here.)

Performers: Concerto Vocale, René Jacobs, Maria Bayo, Marcello Lippi, Simon Keenlyside, Graham Pushee

1.1. Prologo: Sinfonia. Lento - Presto
1.2. Prologo: Sinfonia. 'Alme Pure E Volanti'
1.3. Prologo: Sinfonia. 'Gran Madre, Ottima Duce'
1.4. Atto I, Scena I: Sinfonia/'Del Foco Fulminato'
1.5. Atto I, Scena II: 'Piante Ombrose'
1.6. Atto I, Scena II: 'De L'offese Del Foco'
1.7. Atto I, Scena II: 'Dunque, Giove Immortale'/'Verginella Io Morir Vo'
1.8. Atto I, Scena III: 'Come Scherne Acerbetta'
1.9. Atto I, Scena III: Sinfonia (Reprise)
1.10. Atto I, Scena IV: 'Sien Mortali O Divini'
1.11. Atto I, Scena IV: 'Non È Maggior Piacere'
1.12. Atto I, Scena V: 'Chi Non Ti Crederebbe'/'In Ricovro Più Ombroso'/'A Baciarsi Andiam, Sì Sì'
1.13. Atto I, Scena VI: 'Va' Pur, Va'pur, Va' Seco'/'Se Non Giovano'
1.14. Atto I, Scena VII: 'Improvisi Stupori'
1.15. Atto I, Scena VII: 'Serenati, O Core'/Scena VIII: 'Pavide, Sbigottite'
1.16. Atto I, Scena VIII: 'Parto, E Porto Partendo'/Scena IX: 'Non È Crudel, Ben Mio'
1.17. Atto I, Scena IX: 'Come Chiude Nel Petto'/Scene X
1.18. Atto I, Scena XI: 'Piangete'
1.19. Atto I, Scena XII: 'Interprete Mal Buona'
1.20. Atto I, Scena XIII: 'Ninfa Bella'
1.21. Atto I, Scena XIV: 'Numi Selvatici'
1.22. Atto I, Scena XIV: Ballo De Orsi. Ciacona

2.1. Atto II, Scena I: Sinfonia. Grave/'Erme E Solinghi Cime'
2.2. Atto II, Scena II: 'Candidi Corridori'
2.3. Atto II, Scena II: 'Bella Quanto Crudele'/Sinfonia
2.4. Atto II, Scena III: 'Alfin La Tanto Rigida'
2.5. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Da Le Gelose Mie Cure Incessanti'
2.6. Atto II, Scena V: 'Sporgate Anco'
2.7. Atto II, Scena VI: 'Espirmerti Non Posso'
2.8. Atto II, Scena VI: 'Calisto, Anima Mia?'/Scene VII
2.9. Atto II, Scena VIII: 'Chi Condusse Costei'
2.10. Atto II, Scena IX: 'Cor Mio'
2.11. Atto II, Scena IX: 'Mercurio, Chi Disfoga'
2.12. Atto II, Scena X: 'Se Tu Nol Credi'/Scena XI: 'Fermati O Mobile'
2.13. Atto II, Scena XI: 'Oh Dio, Così Abbandoni'
2.14. Atto II, Scena XII: 'D'aver Un Consorte'
2.15. Atto II, Scena XII: 'Combattimento Di Ninfe E Satiri'

3.1. Atto III, Scena I: 'Restino Imbalsamate'
3.2. Atto III, Scena II: 'Da Le Sponde'
3.3. Atto III, Scena II: 'Ma Si Fa Gelo Il Sangue'
3.4. Atto III, Scena III: 'Racconsolata E Paga'
3.5. Atto III, Scena IV: 'Perfide, Ancora Osate'
3.6. Atto III, Scena IV: 'O Re De L'universo'
3.7. Atto III, Scena IV: 'Mio Foco Fatale'/'Beata Mi Sento'
3.8. Atto III, Scena V: 'Che Non L'ami Volete?'/Scena VI/Scena VII: 'Ti Segua Questo Dardo'
3.9. Atto III, Scena VII: 'Vivo Per Te Pietosa'
3.10. Atto III, Scena VII: 'Tanto, Dunque, Tu M'ami?'
3.11. Atto III, Scena VII: 'Dolcissimi Baci'
3.12. Atto III, Scena VIII: Sinfonia
3.13. Atto III, Scena VIII: 'Le Stelle Più Belle'
3.14. Atto III, Scena VIII: 'Mio Tonante'/'Vaga Amante'
3.15. Atto III, Scena VIII: Ciacona

flac/16-bit

Evil Moisture & Macronympha - The Tentacles Of The Octopus Sometimes Compete Against Each Other

Collaborative release on Ron Lessards' Pure series from RRRecords. Frenchman Andy Bolus (as Evil Mointure) joins yankee veterans Macronympha in a cavalcade of short attention span, high attack noise. Particularly good fun are the sick, dadaist track titles.

1. Junk Dissection
2. Deported Women Of The Suction Socket Special Section
3. Fucking Melted Like Mozzarella Cheese!
4. Anal Arsehol
5. Yokohama Pussy Half
6. Left Brain Lubricant
7. Evil Flower
8. Pittsburgh Capillary Action
9. Bad Drugs From Hell
10. Transsexual BBQ Holocaust
11. Acoustic Output From Driver Unit Used As Output For Inner Ear
12. Seismic Enlarger
13. Involuntary Regurgitation
14. The Chains Rattled In Time To The Ever Sharper Tempo Of Tanya's Lashings While The Once Arrogant Cynthia Offered Up Every Inducement Her Mind Could Devise To Win Her Repreive
15. Peak Exploration
16. The Tentacles Of The Octopus Sometimes Compete Against Each Other 1
17. The Tentacles Of The Octopus Sometimes Compete Against Each Other 2
18. The Tentacles Of The Octopus Sometimes Compete Against Each Other 3
19. The Tentacles Of The Octopus Sometimes Compete Against Each Other 4
20. The Tentacles Of The Octopus Sometimes Compete Against Each Other 5

mp3/192kbps

Լուսինե Զաքարյան - Armenian Medieval Spiritual Music

"'Amenain Hayots Sokhag' or 'All Armenian Nightingale' Lusine Zakaryan, was born Svetlana Zakaryan, on June 1, 1937 in Akhaltsikhe, Georgian SSR." Sparsely accompanied here by organ and strings, Zakaryan soars through these traditional hymns. The effect is at once deeply familiar yet quite unlike any immediate musical parallel. 

1. Sourb-Sourb
2. Haroutian Meghedi
3. Aravot Louso
4. Ur Es Mair Im
5. Bats Mes Ter
6. Havoun Havoun
7. Khorhourd Khorin
8. Tiramayr
9. Horzham

flac, 16-bit