De triomfeerende min (The triumph of love) (1678) [39:01]
Servaas DE KONINK (1654-1701)
De vryadje van Cloris en Roosje (The courtship of Cloris and Rosie) (1688) (exc) [03:02]
various (ed. Camerata Trajectina)
De bruiloft van Kloris en Roosje (The wedding of Cloris and Rosie) (1706) (exc) [10:15]
Camerata Trajectina/Louis Peter Grijp
rec. August 2011, Bunnik, Netherlands. DDD
GLOBE GLO 6069 [52:20]
These three pieces are specimens of music written for the theatre in the
Netherlands in the baroque era. They are very different in character, though.
The largest work, with music by Carolus Hacquart, was composed for the celebrations
of the Peace of Nijmegen of 1678 which brought the war between France and
the Netherlands to a close. It is not known whether it was ever performed
in the form which the composer had in mind.
Hacquart was born in Bruges and educated in composition and the playing
of the bass viol, the lute and the organ. He was one of the composers from
the southern Netherlands who went north, where the Republic of the Seven
United Provinces was experiencing its 'Golden Era'. He first worked in Amsterdam
and then moved to The Hague where - at the instigation of the diplomat,
poet and composer Constantijn Huygens - he had the opportunity to give concerts
at the home of Prince Johan Maurits van Nassau. He also acted as organist
in a hidden Catholic church; public worship was not allowed for Catholics
at that time.
Huygens was impressed by Hacquart's music, and that had everything to do
with his music for De triomfeerende min which was performed in The
Hague, probably in a more modest setting than the composer had in mind.
He called his piece, on a text of the poet Dirck Buysero (1644-1707), "a
peace play, mixed with vocal and string music, stage machinery and dance".
A large part of the text is spoken; one could compare this piece with the
theatre music which we know from Henry Purcell. It begins with songs of
praise on the peace and prosperity in the Republic before the war with France
broke out. When the war begins young women are no longer willing to give
themselves over to Love. Cupid can't accept that and approaches Mars. Before
they get into a fight, Cupid's mother Venus intervenes and seduces Mars
who then ceases hostilities. Peace returns and odes to peace are sung.
A performance of this piece poses various problems. First of all, the spoken
text is probably not well suited to recording on CD; a staged performance
on DVD with subtitles would be more appropriate. Oration is omitted here.
The libretto in the booklet includes some texts which explain the situation.
Secondly, the score includes references to dances and interludes, but the
music is not printed and may never have been written. For this recording
music has been taken from one of Hacquart's main collections of instrumental
music, Chelys, a set of suites for viola da gamba, printed in 1686.
Here they are arranged for an instrumental ensemble which comprises a recorder,
pairs of oboes, trumpets, violins and viols and basso continuo. In two cases
music by other composers was used.
The two other pieces are completely different: comedies of a rather 'vulgar'
character, reflecting the culture of the lower classes which is reflected
in the way of singing. They remind me of the English comedies as they were
recorded by The City Waites for Hyperion.
The wedding of Cloris and Rosie is to a text by Buysero, although
other poets also contributed. It was called a 'rustic operetta', a 'farce
with song and dance'. The music for this piece is mostly lost, apparently
during a fire in the Amsterdam Theatre in 1772. On this disc only songs
and dances were included as these could be reconstructed. This operetta
was in fact the sequel to a piece Buysero had written before, The courtship
of Cloris and Rosie. The music was by Servaes de Konink, like Hacquart
from the southern Netherlands and living in Amsterdam since 1685. Here he
was mainly active as a player of incidental music in the theatre. His music
for this play has for the most part been lost; the two pieces recorded here
have again been reconstructed. These reconstructions are based on finds
in the Dutch Song Database which has been a great help in this kind of reconstruction
projet. It includes many texts and melodies of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The music on this disc is most enjoyable, certainly that by Hacquart. One
can easily understand Constantijn Huygens' appreciation, which is confirmed
by the collections which feature instrumental and vocal music by Hacquart.
For Dutch-speaking listeners this is all easy to appreciate, but for those
who don't understand Dutch it may be something of a challenge because the
texts are not translated. The liner-notes certainly help, but can't fully
compensate for the lack of translations. The music and fine singing and
playing make up for a lot, though. This disc also offers an opportunity
to get to know an aspect of music history which is hardly known within the
Netherlands let alone anywhere else.
The booklet and the tray omit the names of two of the singers: Jasper Schweppe,
baritone (track 13, 17, 20, 25) and Frans Fiselier, bass (track 2, 8, 11,
12, 19, 20, 21, 25, 34).
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
The music and the fine singing and playing make up for the lack of translations.
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