Johann Abraham SCHMIERER (1661 - after 1700)
Zodiaci Musici (1698) - Orchestral Suites
Suite No. 1 in F [11:42]
Suite No. 2 in d minor [13:41]
Suite No. 3 in D [11:50]
Suite No. 4 in b minor [12:52]
Suite No. 5 in B flat [10:07]
Suite No. 6 in g minor [11:16]
Ensemble Tourbillon/Petr Wagner
rec. 24-26 November 2013, Baroque Assembly Hall of Tyrsuv dum, Prague, Czech
Republic. DDD
ACCENT ACC24294 [71:57]
Once in a while a disc lands on my desk which is devoted
to a composer I had never heard of. That is the case with the present disc
which comprises six partitas by Johann Abraham Schmierer. These apparently,
are the only compositions from his pen which have come down to us. Schmierer
is an almost completely unknown quantity: he has no entry in New Grove,
but - according to the liner-notes - he is mentioned in the German encyclopedia
Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. However, there is little to tell
about him. We don't know when he was born and when he died. It is not
even sure whether he was a professional composer.
He was born in Augsburg and his name first appears as that of a Diskantist
in the choir of Augsburg Cathedral. This suggests that he was a pupil of the
then Kapellmeister Johann Melchior Gletle. He left the choir in 1680
with a stipend of the Cathedral chapter which allowed him to study philosophy
at Dillingen University. In 1682 he transferred to Salzburg University to
study law. However, it seems that he aspired to a career in music. In 1683
he applied for the job of Kapellmeister in Augsburg, as the successor
to Gletle who had died that year. He didn't succeed and it seems that
he entered the service of the Fugger family, not as a musician but as a jurist.
In 1698 he published Zodiaci Musici, "in Twelve Balletic Parts,
the First Part of the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac Presented in Music".
The second part was announced in 1710, but it is unsure whether these have
ever been published or even composed. The title and the description suggest
a link to astrology, but in his liner-notes Bernhard Blattmann argues that
there is nothing in the music itself which points in that direction. Moreover,
"[if] one consults the relevant esoteric literature (...), then it becomes
evident that Schmierer would not have been allowed to use any relative major/minor
keys for a musical representation of the different zodiacal signs." Therefore
he assumes that the title is just a commercial ploy to make the collection
stand out among the many editions of instrumental music published in his time.
It was a time in which many in Germany were under the spell of French music.
Aristocrats tried to copy the splendour of the French monarchy under Louis
XIV and the music associated with it, in particular that of Jean-Baptiste
Lully. It resulted in several composers writing music in the style of Lully;
they were known as Lullistes. Among them were Johann Caspar Ferdinand
Fischer, Philipp Heinrich Erlebach and Johann Sigismund Kusser. The latter
even went to Paris to study with Lully. The six partitas, as they
are called on the title pages, follow the structure of the orchestral suites
from Lully's operas played in France. Every suite opens with an ouverture;
this is followed by a series of dances, such as allemande, bourrée, gavotte
and gigue. In three of the suites the ouverture is followed by an entrée.
It has been suggested that this could indicate that these suites were originally
written for a theatrical performance. However, ballets were usually performed
at larger courts, and Blattmann points out that there is no evidence whatsoever
that Schmierer was ever associated with such a court.
The description on the title page indicates for which occasions this music
was written: "comedies, dinner music, serenades and other such cheerful
gatherings". One could compare them with the Symphonies pour les
Soupers du Roy by Michel-Richard de Lalande. With how many instruments
should these suites be performed? The title page mentions "four violins
and harpsichord ad libitum". Blattmann refers to the preface
- unfortunately not included in the booklet - in which Schmierer includes
"unusually detailed instructions for instrumental doubling of the parts"
which draws him to conclude that "this is by no means chamber music,
but genuine orchestral music that can, by way of exception, also be performed
soloistically." - "alla camera", as Schmierer puts it. However,
in the baroque era there was no strict separation between orchestral and chamber
music. The 'orchestral' overtures by the likes of Telemann and
Bach, for instance, can be performed with a (small) orchestra, but there is
no fundamental objection to a performance with one instrument per part. At
the time the music was written the line-up probably differed according to
the situation and venue. In this recording three of the suites are performed
with one string instrument per part. In the Suite No. 3 the upper
part is played by a transverse flute. The Suite No. 6 is also played
as chamber music, but then with wind instruments: three oboes and a bassoon.
The Suite No. 5 is the only one with 'orchestral proportions':
the strings are doubled by wind instruments.
The variety in the line-up and the scoring seems to be in accord with what
was common practice at the time. I was wondering whether the choice of the
transverse flute in the Suite No. 3 was appropriate when I heard
the sarabande, where the strings play pizzicato. Obviously this is
a technique of string instruments which a flute can't copy. However,
the score requires staccato play which is no problem for the flute. Why is
this interpreted as pizzicato by the strings? This is only a minor
issue, though. These six suites are very interesting and entertaining stuff.
One should not expect much expression here, not even in the plainte
which ends the Suite No. 2. That is not meant as a negative assessment:
this music was written to entertain, and nothing more. Even so, now and then
there are some dark streaks, especially in the Melodie from the Suite
No. 6. Petr Wagner and his colleagues have opted for mostly pretty swift
tempi. In some instances a slower tempo would probably be more suitable, for
instance in the first section of the ouverture of the Suite No. 1.
Overall the playing is excellent.
This disc makes one regret that more music by Schmierer has not come down
to us.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
Support
us financially by purchasing this from |
|
 |
 |
 |
|