Until well into the
18th century the recorder remained the
most popular instrument in England;
longer than anywhere else. Eventually
it gave way to the transverse flute,
an instrument that had appeared on the
European continent some decades earlier.
Just as much music for the recorder
was composed and published until midway
into the 18th century but in the second
half a large repertoire for the transverse
flute was printed. This disc gives some
idea of the kind of music that was written
in England.
Two of the composers
on the programme lived in England for
a considerable part of their life. Carl
Friedrich Abel moved from Dresden to
London in 1758/59 and Johann Christian
Bach settled there in 1762, coming from
Milan. Together they started a concert
series in London, the so-called Bach-Abel
concerts. In 1767 they met Lord Willoughby
Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon. He was
a colourful character, who had been
educated in Westminster, Oxford and
Geneva, and had just returned from a
journey through France and Italy. He
acted as patron of the Bach-Abel concerts,
and in the 1790s sponsored Haydn's visits
to London, after having failed to persuade
the composer to come to England about
ten years before.
The Earl of Abingdon
was an avid player of the transverse
flute. While in Rome Grétry wrote
a solo concerto for him, and later even
wrote some works himself. It seems his
friendship with Haydn was an incentive
for him to compose. It was the connection
with the Earl which made Haydn write
the two Trios for two transverse flutes
and cello which have been recorded here.
Haydn paid tribute to his sponsor with
the Trio No. 2, which is a set of variations
on the Earl's tune "The Lady's Looking
Glass". Haydn reported a meeting with
the Earl and his friend the Baron of
Aston; the latter was meant to play
the second flute part. It is this Baron
of Aston to whom Haydn dedicated these
two trios at the time of their publication
by Monzani in London in 1799.
It seems the Earl of
Abingdon was quite a skilled player,
as the flute parts are not exactly easy.
He also inspired other composers to
write music for him. The title of this
disc suggests all pieces played here
were specifically written for the Earl
of Abingdon, but the programme notes
don't specify this. In the trio by Carl
Friedrich Abel the cello gets a more
independent part than in the trios by
Haydn. In particular in the first and
last movements the three instruments
are treated equally, whereas the middle
movement is mainly a dialogue between
the two flutes.
Johann Christian Bach
wrote a series of four quartets: three
of this op. 19 are for two flutes, viola
and cello, whereas in one of the quartets
the viola is replaced by the violin.
In these quartets Bach also treats the
instruments on equal terms. In the andante
of the Quartet in C the viola plays
a prominent role, whereas the opening
movement of the Quartet in D is dominated
by the contrast between the two flutes
on the one hand and the strings on the
other. In the andante of this quartet
the instruments are regrouped: a dialogue
of the first flute and the viola is
followed by a dialogue between the second
flute and the cello.
Just like Haydn Carl
Stamitz only visited London: he stayed
there in the later 1770s, and also came
into contact with the Earl of Abingdon.
Like the Trios by Haydn his Trio in
G is evidence of the Earl's great skills,
as the flute part is quite virtuosic.
In the andante Stamitz shows his affiliation
with the style of the 'Empfindsamkeit'.
The four musicians
on this disc give fine performances.
They are playing as a real ensemble,
which doesn't surprise as they often
play together in ensembles and orchestras.
The divertimento-like character of these
pieces comes off very well, although
sometimes I find the performances a
shade too introverted. For instance,
more could have been made of the so-called
'Mannheim rocket' – an ascending figure
of short notes – which appears in the
first movement of Carl Friedrich Abel's
Trio. The programme has been well recorded,
but in the Trios of Haydn I would have
preferred more spatial separation between
the flutes, which would have made the
dialogues between them more clearly
audible.
This is a most enjoyable
disc which gives an interesting picture
of an important aspect of music life
in England in the second half of the
18th century. High quality musical entertainment.
Johan van Veen
for details
Wilbert Hazelzet, Marion Moonen (transverse
flute); Bernadette Verhagen (viola) (*);
Barbara Kernig (cello) 
