"Francesco Maria Veracini,
and Tartini, his contemporary, were
regarded as the greatest masters of
their instrument that had ever appeared;
and their abilities were not merely
confined to the excellence of their
performance, but extended to composition,
in which they both manifested great
genius and science. But whatever resemblance
there may have been in the professional
skill of these two masters, it was impossible
for any two men to be more dissimilar
in disposition: Tartini was so humble
and timid, that he was never happy but
in obscurity; while Veracini was so
foolishly vain-glorious as frequently
to boast that there was but one God,
and one Veracini … Many silly
stories are handed about Italy concerning
the caprice and arrogance of this performer,
who was usually qualified with the title
of Capo pazzo" – so writes Charles
Burney in his General History of
Music (Vol.III, 1789).
One of the great travelling
virtuosi, Veracini’s career took him
from his native Florence to Venice and
to many other parts of Europe – notably
to London (several times), Dresden,
Prague and elsewhere, before his eventual
return to Florence, from 1750 onwards.
Tales of Veracini’s
arrogance and eccentricity – which seem
to have been real enough even if not
all the stories about him were literally
true – have sometimes distracted attention
from the music itself – composed, as
Burney says, with "great genius and
science". This well-recorded CD from
ECM presents four sonatas from different
periods of Veracini’s career.
It was during a spell
in Venice in 1716 that Veracini wrote
out a fair copy of his first collection
of sonatas and dedicated it to Crown
Prince Frederick Augustus of Saxony,
who was in Venice at the time, and at
whose court in Dresden Veracini was
eager to find employment. These sonatas
are so written as to suit either violin
or recorder as solo instrument – which
means that the writing is less full
of violin-specific effects than is usually
the case with Veracini. It was only
in this early set of sonatas that Veracini
employed the four-movement form of the
sonata. This sonata in C major is an
attractively proportioned piece, its
two largos, the first more elegant,
the second more lyrical, being nicely
complemented by two dancing allegros.
It is, in truth, a more or less conventional
work – and none the worse for that.
As John Holloway and
his colleagues turn to later compositions
by Veracini there is more evidence of
his famous eccentricity; yet, as Holloway
wisely says in his contribution to the
booklet notes, it is a dimension of
his work (as opposed to his life and
character) that can easily be given
undue prominence: "As in the case of
any innovative composer who happens
to have had an eccentric personality,
it is tempting to look for the bizarre
in Veracini’s music and over-emphasise
it. I think this would be to underestimate
him".
Op1. No 1 is eclectic,
but not eccentric, in its materials.
Its five movements begin with a French
style overture; its second movement
– marked ‘Aria. Affetuoso’ – has some
attractive melodies and some striking
chromatic writing; the third movement
(‘Paesana’) makes effective use of folk
materials; following a minuet, the sonata
closes with a gigue, which fulfils the
marking ‘Postiglione’ by the imitation
of some posthorn calls. The interplay
between the three instrumentalist is
particularly impressive in this Op.1
sonata.
Op.2 No.6, in A major,
belongs to the set described as Sonate
accademiche when published in 1744.The
title probably carries the implication
that these were works intended to elicit
the admiration of learned connoisseurs,
rather than the general public. There
is extensive – and complex – use of
counterpoint and much technically demanding
writing in the Sonate accademiche,
and No. 6 is no exception. Formally
Veracini is here quite close to the
influential model that Corelli’s opus
5 set had provided. In the second movement
of No.6 we have one of Veracini’s famous
capriccios. Essentially a fugal movement,
this movement also incorporates some
of what Veracini called ‘bizzarie’,
virtuoso passages of display and invention.
John Holloway handles these passages
perfectly, resisting the temptation
to go overboard, allowing them to be
contrasting parts of a larger whole,
not ends in themselves. The fourth movement
is remarkable and memorable – a firm
walking bass beneath a spiralling melody.
In his late Dissertazioni
… sopra l’opera quinta del Corelli,
Veracini returns to that same set of
violin sonatas by Corelli which so fascinated
so many musicians in the eighteenth
century. Veracini’s contrapuntal inventiveness,
in terms both of "genius and science",
is very evident in the subtle musical
commentary within this first sonata
of Veracini’s homage to Corelli – a
homage which was clearly intended to
say something of Veracini’s own claims
as a composer!
Holloway, ter Linden
and Mortensen are all of them performers
with well-established reputations in
the baroque field, and this programme
of sonatas by Veracini can only enhance
their reputations still further. Inevitably,
it is Holloway’s playing which one notices
– and admires – most on initial hearings.
But further listenings bring home to
one just how fine and important are
the contributions of cellist and harpsichordist.
This is very much a ‘team’ performance
and is thoroughly recommended.
He may have been called
Capo pazzo, but as a composer
Veracini had certainly got his head
screwed on the right way.
Glyn Pursglove
John Holloway (violin), Jaap ter Linden (cello),
Lars Erik Mortensen (harpsichord) 
