Francesco Onofrio Manfredini is one of those Italian composers of the
baroque era who is overshadowed by his contemporary Vivaldi. Every year a
number of discs with music of the latter are released however
Manfredini's oeuvre is seldom performed and recorded. It is telling
that ten of the twelve
sinfonie da chiesa from his op. 2 are
recorded here for the first time. In fact, there is a good reason why he is
not that well represented in the discography: his extant oeuvre is very
small. He must have written some music for the liturgy, but none of that has
been preserved. The titles of nine oratorios from his pen are known, but all
are lost.
Manfredini was born in Pistoia in 1684, the same year in which his father
had been appointed as a trombonist at the Cathedral. It is possible that
Francesco received violin lessons from Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani who was
maestro di cappella in Pistoia from 1687 to 1692. It is documented
that he studied in Bologna with Giuseppe Torelli and Giacomo Perti. At
several stages of his career he was in one way or another connected to
Bologna. After some years in Ferrara he joined the orchestra of the San
Petronio in Bologna where he stayed until 1711. In that year he became
attached to the court of Antoine I Grimaldi of Monaco, where he acted as a
composer and performer until 1723. The next year he was appointed
maestro di cappella at Pistoia Cathedral where he remained until
his death. His time there was not without considerable trouble, caused by
regular conflicts with the cathedral chapters and the musicians of the
chapel.
Four collections of his music were printed, and the fact that three of
them were printed in Bologna attests to his close ties to that city.
Manfredini is best-known for his 'Christmas concerto', the
last concerto grosso from his op. 3, printed in 1718. Nine years before that
he published his op. 2, again a collection of twelve pieces, this time
called
sinfonie da chiese, and also ending with a piece for
Christmas eve. These
sinfonie are intended for performance during
the liturgy, for instance during Vespers or as a replacement of parts of the
Proprium of the Mass. They are all in four movements, following the model of
the Corellian
sonata da chiesa. As with those sonatas the second
movement usually takes the form of a fugue.
The scoring leaves various possibilities as Joachim Steinheuer explains in
the booklet. There are four part books for the strings and a separate part
book for the organ. The viola part is optional; this means that these pieces
can be played as trio sonatas for two violins and bc. If the viola is
included these
sinfonie can be performed with one instrument per
part - as is the case here - but also in a larger line-up. In that case they
are close to the
concerto grosso, in particular regarding the
indications of 'solo' in the violin parts. The score also
includes instructions for the performance, especially in regard to dynamics,
but in addition we see terms such as
puntato and
sostenuto. Some of these also appear in the titles of
movements.
This collection of twelve
sinfonie includes lots of good stuff.
Many slow movements are quite expressive, especially those that have the
indication
grave. The first movement of the
Sinfonia IX in
C which opens this disc is a good example. The ensuing
andante
is remarkable for the mixture of various rhythms. Manfredini often uses
harmony for expressive reasons. That makes good ensemble particularly
important, and that is one of the features of these performances by the
Capricornus Consort Basel. The two violinists are impressive in their
exploration of the expressive traits of these pieces. Through their subtle
treatment of dynamics they emphasize the rhythmic pulse. The fast movements
are lively and engaging.
In short, this disc is a substantial contribution to the discography: nice
music, well played and recorded. The liner-notes tell us all we want to know
about Manfredini and his op. 2.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
