Rococo - Musique à Sanssouci
Dorothee Oberlinger (recorder), Alfredo Bernardini (oboe), Makiko Kurabayashi (bassoon), Hiro Kurosaki (violin), Nils Mönkemeyer (viola), Axel Wolf (lute)
Ensemble 1700
rec. Klaus-von-Bismarck-Saal, WDR Funkhaus, Cologne, Germany September 2016
DEUTSCHE HARMONIA MUNDI 88875134062 [79:05]
The term Rococo is not often used in connection
to music. There could be several reasons for that. Firstly, the term
was originally used for a tendency in the visual arts, especially in
France, and is not easily applicable for other branches of culture.
Secondly, the term was invented in the late 18th century, and at that
time the period known as rococo was mostly assessed negatively.
In New Grove we read: "The derivation of the term (rocaille,
'shellwork') is post facto and pejorative, like
most critical descriptions of the style. The term seems to have originated
around 1796–7 as artists' jargon in the studio of Jacques-Louis
David, where (...) it was used 'to denigrate the painting produced
during the reign of Louis XV, when Mme de Pompadour was an arbiter of
taste'."
How problematic the use of this word is to describe a musical period
is demonstrated in the Wikipedia article on rococo.
It says that in Germany "it was referred to as empfindsamer
stil ("sensitive style"). It can be characterized as
light, intimate music with extremely elaborate and refined forms of
ornamentation." However, that is a rather inapt description of
the Empfindsamkeit, which is rather extreme in its expression
of often strongly contrasting emotions. "Light music" the
Empfindsamkeit is most definitely not. In music which can be
called rococo - especially written in France in the second
quarter of the 18th century - pastoral elements play a key role, and
that element is largely absent in the music of the German sensitive
style.
Then why did Dorothee Oberlinger use this term as the title for her
recording of German music from the mid-18th century? Her starting point
is the construction of the palace in Sanssouci. "Sanssouci - Brandenburg's
answer to Arcadia - was formally inaugurated in May 1747, sixteen months
after the end of the Second Silesian War, and was a kind of temple to
the Muses for the Rococo age, a maison de plaisance whose denizens
lived lives that Voltaire described dismissively as a siècle de
petitesses: a century of trifles. Contemporaries turned to the
refined, the complex, the ornamental and the delicate, a predilection
also found in music, where sensibility and the galant were
privileged and feelings were preferred to the mathematically based art
of counterpoint that had typified the earlier age."
Galant is probably the best word to describe the largest part
of this disc. It also is more easily compatible with the recorder than
the music of the Empfindsamkeit which needs instruments with
a wider dynamic range and more capabilities to create various colours
than the recorder. Among the most popular instruments of the Empfindsamkeit
were the transverse flute, the violin and the clavichord. The use of
the recorder - or rather a whole battery of recorders, as Oberlinger
plays no fewer than nine different instruments - is one of the most
notable features of this disc, especially as this instrument was on
the brink of disappearance in the mid-18th century. It is true that
among amateurs it was still quite popular, but it seems unlikely that
much of the repertoire recorded here was intended for amateurs.
The disc opens with a piece by Gottfried Finger who for a considerable
period of time worked in England and is therefore also known as Godfrey
Finger. A Ground was included in a collection of Airs anglois
published in Amsterdam in 1704. It links up with the rich English tradition
of writing grounds, but is not part of what we probably could
call the musical rococo. The same goes for the next piece,
an interesting double concerto for recorder and bassoon which has been
found in the archive of the Berlin Singakademie where it is attributed
to Handel. If it is from his pen - which is anything but sure - it must
have been written by a very young Handel, well before his departure
to Italy. It doesn't sound very Handelian to my ears, but that
is also because we usually hear instrumental works from his English
period, which include so many references to vocal works. This concerto
reminds me of Telemann's concerto for the same scoring. Whether
it is from Handel's pen or not, it is a fine work and both recorder
players and bassoonists should be happy about it.
Johann Gottlieb Janitsch is one of the lesser known composers in the
programme whose oeuvre has not been truly explored. He was born in Schweidnitz
in Silesia (now Swidnica in Poland) and was educated at the bass viol.
After having been a law student in Frankfurt an der Oder where he also
played a major role in local musical life, he joined the chapel of Frederick,
then still Crown Prince of Prussia, in Ruppin, later Rheinsberg. It
is here that he started a series of weekly concerts on Fridays, the
Freitagsakademie. It is likely that his chamber music was written
for performances during these concerts in which both professional and
amateur players participated. When Frederick became King of Prussia
and moved his court to Berlin, Janitsch continued his Friday academies
there. Not only his own music, but also music by his colleagues was
performed during these concerts, the kind of music Dorothee Oberlinger
has recorded. That certainly goes for the chamber music and concertos
by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who accompanied Frederik the Great when
he played his flute, but whose compositions were not really appreciated
by his employer.
Janitsch was especially famous for his quartets. His colleague Johann
Wilhelm Hertel considered them "the best specimens of the genre".
They were models of contrapuntal technique; this form also frequently
appears in the oeuvre of Telemann and Fasch. The Quartet in G
- called Quadro by the composer - is for recorder, oboe, violin
and basso continuo. Apparently the flute part is referred to as flauto,
and Dorothee Oberlinger writes that "it is now generally assumed
that Janitsch's flauto was an alto recorder". The
fact that this quartet is dominated by counterpoint makes it well suited
for the recorder.
In the case of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach the recorder is more problematic.
The Sonata in e minor (Wq 124) was originally intended for
the transverse flute and having heard it several times with that instrument
I find it hard to get used to a performance with a recorder, beautifully
as Oberlinger plays it. That is entirely different with the other sonata,
originally scored for bass recorder, viola and basso continuo. The bass
recorder is a remarkable choice anyway as this instrument was mostly
played in a recorder consort, not as a solo instrument. The curiosity
of this scoring explains why Bach later adapted it as a sonata for two
violins and basso continuo.
Johann Joachim Quantz could not be omitted here. He was Frederick's
flute teacher, composed numerous sonatas and concertos for the transverse
flute and is the author of a treatise on the flute which is still frequently
used by interpreters of 18th-century repertoire. Lesser known - except
probably among flutists - is his study material, such as the pieces
for flute solo played here. It is known that he played the recorder;
Oberlinger refers to the fact that he came from the circle of the Stadtpfeifer.
Whether these pieces were intended for the recorder is impossible to
say; they sound well on it, though.
Ernst Gottlieb Baron is almost exclusively known as a lutist and composer
of music for his own instrument. He played the theorbo in Frederick's
court chapel. His oeuvre is small and includes the Concerto in d
minor for flute and lute; it is a nice piece and is well played
here, but in the slower parts I would have preferred the more sensitive
sound of the transverse flute.
The two most remarkable pieces are the concertos by Johann Gottlieb
Graun and Johann Christian Schulze, as these are definitely intended
for the recorder. Graun was one of the main members of Frederick's
ensemble and a much celebrated composer of instrumental music. However,
it is not entirely clear whether he is the composer. It could also be
his brother Carl Heinrich; they usually signed their compositions just
with 'Graun', without their Christian name. The Concerto
in C is the only piece by the Grauns which has a recorder part.
This could well have been written with a specific player in mind. It
is a relatively conservative piece; the violin part is considerably
more virtuosic than the recorder part and includes double-stopping.
A Concerto in G is often attributed to Johann Christoph Schultze
(c1733-1813), and that would make this piece the latest solo concerto
for recorder of the 18th century. The attribution to Schultze is not
that inconceivable, considering the theatrical character of the middle
movement and the fact that this Schultze was a composer of music for
the theatre. But Michael Schneider - who recorded this concerto (CPO,
2010) - and the musicologist Steffen Voss believe that this attribution
is historically untenable, and that Johann Christian Schultze (c1680
- 1740) is the real composer. He was an oboist in the Prussian army
and later violinist in the court chapel in Berlin. The track-list includes
an error here: Johann Christian Schultze is mentioned as the composer
but with the dates of Johann Christoph.
The concept of this disc doesn't entirely convince me and I am
sceptical about the use of the recorder in some of the pieces. However,
the repertoire is first class and the programme includes some pieces
which are hardly known, such as the concerto attributed to Handel and
the quartet by Janitsch. Dorothee Oberlinger is one of today's
finest recorder players. Over the years I have heard many of her recordings
and I have always rated them highly. That is no different here. She
produces a beautiful tone and fully explores the features of the respective
recorders: soprano, alto, tenor and bass recorder as well as the voice
flute. She is supported by her own Ensemble 1700 which includes some
of the best players on their respective instruments: Hiro Kurosaki (violin),
Alfredo Bernardini (oboe), Makiko Kurabayashi (bassoon) and Axel Wolf
(lute).
Recorder aficionados won't hesitate to add this disc to their
collection, but you don't need to be one of them to really enjoy
it.
Johan van Veen
Disc contents
Gottfried (Godfrey) FINGER (1660-1730)
A Ground [03:18]
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759) (attr)
Concerto doppio for recorder, bassoon, strings and bc in c minor [09:42]
Johann Gottlieb JANITSCH (1708-1763)
Quadro for recorder, oboe, violin and bc in G [14:16]
Johann Gottlieb GRAUN (1703-1771) (attr)
Concerto for recorder, violin, strings and bc in C (Graun WV Cv,XIII,96)
[09:05]
Johann Joachim QUANTZ (1697-1773)
Sarabande in G - Double I & II for recorder solo [02:56]
Carl Philipp Emanuel BACH (1714-1788)
Sonata for transverse flute [recorder] and bc in e minor (Wq 124 / H
551) [06:06]
Sonata (Trio) for bass recorder, viola and bc in F (Wq 163 / H 588)
[11:03]
Ernst Gottlieb BARON (1696-1760)
Concerto for transverse flute [recorder] and lute in d minor [08:08]
Johann Joachim QUANTZ
Vibace alla francese for recorder solo in B flat [01:28]
Johann Christian SCHULTZE (c1680 - 1740) or Johann Christoph
SCHULTZE (1733-1813)
Concerto a 5 for recorder, strings and bc in B flat [12:48]
