The Seventeenth-Century Violin
Nicola MATTEIS, the elder (?-c1695):
Passaggio rotto (1676) [2:37]
Fantasia (1676) [2:47]
Nicola MATTEIS, the younger (c1677-1737)
Fantasia, con discretione [6:16]
Thomas BALTZER (c1631-1663)
Prelude [1:43]
Allemande [3:14]
Sarabande [2:27]
Prelude [3:29]
Heinrich Ignaz Franz VON BIBER (1644-1704)
Passacaglia [8:58]
Johann Paul VON WESTHOFF (1656-1705)
Suite in A (1683) [9:33]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Partita in d minor (after the Partita for transverse flute in a minor,
BWV 1013)
Toccata in a minor (transcription of the Toccata for organ in d minor,
BWV 565) [9:44]
Jaap Schröder (violin)
rec. 3-4, 9-12 August 1999, Skálholtskirkja, Iceland. DDD
SMEKKLEYSA SMC 5 [66:52] 
The name of this label means "bad taste" in English. That is not
very promising, is it? But it isn't as bad as one might think. This disc is
one of the flowers in their catalogue. Jaap Schröder (b.1925) is one of the
pioneers of the baroque violin. Alongside the likes of Nikolaus Harnoncourt,
Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen and Anner Bijlsma he has attempted to restore
the performance practice of the baroque era, using instruments of the period.
To that end violins of the 17th and 18th centuries which had been adapted
to the aesthetic ideals of the 19th century were restored to their original
condition. That is also the case with the violin Schröder uses here which
was built by the Dutch violin maker Willem van der Syde around 1700.
Rather than play pieces for violin and basso continuo Schröder has selected
compositions for violin without accompaniment. In the baroque era most music
for a single instrument was for keyboard - harpsichord and organ - or for
plucked instrument - lute and guitar. Pieces for melody instruments, like
recorder, flute, violin or cello, usually had a bass part. There is a considerable
repertoire for solo instruments, though. Most of it is for viola da gamba:
in particular in the 17th century many pieces were written for viola da gamba
solo, especially in France and England. In the 18th century Bach wrote his
solo works for violin and cello, Telemann a number of fantasias for flute
and for violin and Carl Friedrich Abel composed music for viola da gamba.
The literature for violin solo seems limited. There are the six partitas and
sonatas by Bach and then the Passacaglia by Biber. Johann Paul von Westhoff
wrote six partitas for violin solo which strongly influenced Bach's solo works.
But over the years more music has been discovered. Telemann's fantasias have
been recorded, and composers like Thomas Baltzer and Nicola Matteis have been
rescued from oblivion. Schröder begins his recital with three pieces by father
and son Matteis. Nicola the elder was born in Naples; the year of his birth
is not known nor are there any facts about his years in his native country.
It seems he arrived in London around 1670, but the first mention dates from
1674 when he is noted as performing the violin in public. Listeners were flabbergasted
by his virtuosity; they had never heard anything like that before. Socially
he had difficulty adapting to his environment as he was considered arrogant
and rather full of himself. His apparently odd character is reflected in some
of the pieces he published in his Ayrs for the violin in 1676. Schröder
has chosen two of the more common pieces. The Passaggio rotto consists
- as the name suggests - of virtuosic passagework in the style of the passaggi
which were so popular in Italy around 1600. The Fantasia contains some
double-stopping, without any doubt one of the things with which he astounded
his audiences. If you would like to hear the more bizarre side of Matteis,
turn to the
disc by Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti. Another Fantasia is played,
this time by Matteis's son, Nicola the younger. He composed little for the
violin: around 1700 he moved to Vienna, and there he mainly wrote ballet music.
Thomas Baltzer (or Baltzar) was another immigrant; he was born in Lübeck in
northern Germany from a family of musicians. In 1655 he travelled to England
where he stayed until his death. When he played in England a contemporary
observed that he "plaid on that single instrument a full Consort".
That refers to his chordal playing, which was unknown in England at the time.
Little of his music has survived; most of his pieces for solo violin are included
in The Division Violin, published by John Playford in 1685. The four
pieces played here all contain passages with double-stopping.
Biber was one of the main representatives of the German-Austrian school of
violin playing which was the finest in Europe. He was a great virtuoso, and
composed a considerable number of pieces for violin and b.c. One of the most
famous collections - recorded numerous times - are the 15 so-called Mystery
Sonatas or Rosenkranz-Sonaten. The collection closes with Biber's only
piece for violin solo, a Passacaglia. The addition of this piece to
the sequence of 15 sonatas connected to the mysteries (or meditations) on
the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary has led to some speculation. In print
it is preceded by a picture of a guardian angel leading a child. This could
mean that the piece is referring to the feast of the Guardian Angel to which
the rosary devotions were often associated.
From the same school of violin playing come the next composers featured on
this disc. Johann Paul von Westhoff was born in Dresden and became a member
of the Hofkapelle. He also travelled in Europe and gave performances
as a violin virtuoso. He played at the court for Louis XIV who was very impressed.
Two pieces by Von Westhoff were printed in the newspaper Mercure Galant,
one of which is the Suite in A. It has the characteristic form of a
suite, opening with an overture, followed by allemande, courante, sarabande
and gigue I and II. In 1699 he entered the service of Duke Johann Ernst of
Saxe-Weimar, and stayed there until his death in 1705. It is very likely he
met Johann Sebastian Bach there, and it is generally assumed that Von Westhoff
inspired Bach to compose his sonatas and partitas for solo violin. None of
those are included here; Schröder's interpretation has been released by Naxos
(8.557563-64). Here he has chosen his own transcription of Bach's only piece
for transverse flute without accompaniment, the Partita in a minor (BWV
1013), transposed in this case to d minor. This is not the first time
it has been transcribed for other instruments. In 1975 Frans Brüggen recorded
Bach's chamber music for flute with some colleagues, and various movements
were performed at the viola, the cello piccolo, the recorder, the harpsichord
and the violin. On the latter it works quite well. The same goes for the last
work in the programme, Bach's most famous organ work, the Toccata (and
fugue) in d minor (BWV 565). There is some doubt among scholars whether
this was really written by Bach. But if it isn't by Bach, then who could have
written a piece like this? There seem to be more reasons to doubt whether
it was originally conceived as an organ piece. Some assume it was first written
for violin solo, and Schröder is one of those who have attempted to reconstruct
the original form. It has been published by Faber & Faber (London, 1984)
and has been performed by some of Schröder's colleagues.
It is nice to hear his own performance which is very compelling. If you have
the well-known organ version in mind you might sometimes wonder whether you
are hearing the same piece. It just shows how much has been added to the original,
assuming it was indeed first intended for the violin. What we get here is
the skeleton, so to speak, of the organ piece. The figurations seem very natural
for the violin, and bring this piece quite close to Bach's sonatas and partitas.
The rest of the programme is of the same calibre. The music is first-rate
and the performances show a thorough understanding of the style and idiom.
Now and then I had the impression the technique was less than perfect, which
is hardly surprising considering that Schröder made this recording at the
age of 73. But those moments are few and far between.
This is a most impressive recital of some fascinating music of quite diverse
character. The record company doesn't have such bad taste after all.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
A most impressive recital of some fascinating music of quite diverse character.